tail and shadow

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,could you tell me what is the difference between tail and shadow as a verb.thanks

2

Hi,

‘Tail’ would describe perhaps a detective following someone to see where they are going. ‘Shadow’ is often used to describe what you do when you follow someone around as when you are about to take over a new job and you follow in detail another person who has a similar job or whose job you are going to take over.

Alan

3

But can’t “to shadow” also mean the same as “to tail”, i.e. following like a detective?

4

Hi Cerberus,

The first meaning to me is the idea of following around but not trying to hide, which is I think the main idea of ‘tail’.

Alan

5

Hi can you give me some examples?

6

Okay, thank you.