Adhere To, Follow, Obey

Question

I have some question about the verbs "adhere to", "follow", and "obey" . Suppose there is a plan, and part of the plan includes a particular person (Mike) giving a speech reading from a prepared text. The plan also contains rules for other activities. If I write the following sentences:

1a. Mike adhered to the prepared text.
1b. Mike followed the prepared text.
1c. Mike obeyed the prepared text.

2a. Mike adhered to the rules.
2b. Mike followed the rules.
2c. Mike obeyed the rules.

Since "obey" is similar to "follow" and "adhere to", and 2c is okay due to the correctness of 2a+2b, then 1c should bee okay due to the correctness of 1a+1b. But for some reason, 1c seems a little off to me. What do native speakers think?

Answer 1

Adhere and follow both give a sense of wanting to follow, obey is yielding to rules you have to follow. As such, obey needs an object that expresses a will. Rules express a will, a text often does not, and so it doesn't sound right. I would even go so far as to say that instructions, being guidelines instead of rules, can't be obeyed, only followed.

I mention instructions because it sounds like that's a more accurate word in English for what you mean by rules. Rules are for inherently structured things, like games, classrooms and governments. Instructions are for guidance in making things work. If you needed help in constructing something, you'd look for instructions. If you were playing a game wrong, you'd be breaking the rules. Activities tend to have instructions, like "read this out loud, and then do these things."

I hope that's clear enough. Please leave a comment if you have a question about this.

Answer 2

1b is the best choice among 1a, 1b, and 1c. To my (American) ear, the most obvious meanings of these options are:

• "Mike adhered to the prepared text." means either Mike's skin was attached to the paper the speech was written on (by glue, or surface tension, et cetera), or Mike was a loyal follower of the ideas expressed in the prepared text. "Adhere" has the literal meaning of "attached". An "adherent" is a person who supports a leader or supports a group of ideas.

• "Mike followed the prepared text." means either Mike said what the prepared text told him to say, or Mike understood the content of the prepared text. "Followed" has idiomatic usages that match both of these meanings.

• "Mike obeyed the prepared text." means Mike obeyed instructions or rules that were stated in the text. For example, if the prepared text said to "Shave your mustache", Mike shaved his mustache.