Converting sentences

[Yuko]

Hello,

I posted some questions and received grateful answers a few years ago, and came back - quietly - now to ask another question!

I must convert incomplete sentences that are to be followed by unknown objects into complete sentences, e.g.

[My address is ...] must become [My address is as follows:] or [The following is my address:]
[The next bus stop is ...] must become [The next bus stop is as follows:] or [The following is the next bus stop:]
[The fabric had a pattern of ...] must become [The fabric had a pattern of the followings:] or [etc]

But as you can see, converted sentences do not sound smart.
Are there any other ways to write them in complete sentences?

Appreciate your kind help again

[hubertus]

My address is as follows doesn't sound particularly smart, however it would look fine in a letter.

The construction could be used in speech for emphasis:

'We have received the following statement:' " ... etc "
or, perhaps:
'We have received a statement as follows:' " ... etc"

'The next bus stop/station is', would sound much better than 'The following ...'

[Sue M-V]

I have to wonder why they're making you write sentences like this, Yuko! One of my guiding principles is only to teach language that I believe the students will have practical use for, and I can't imagine anyone's ever wanting to say "the next bus stop is as follows: ..."! I'd say, "The next bus stop is at the Rose and Crown in Cherry Lane."

As hubertus suggests, the phrase "as follows" is probably quite common in business letters, but is hardly used for explaining the whereabouts of bus stops!

You'd have to have a pretty complicated address to want to introduce it with "as follows". Most people would say and write, "My address is:" and then just the address itself.

Even fabrics wouldn't require such a phase. You'd be more likely to say "the fabric had a pattern of flowers" than "the pattern had a pattern as follows: of flowers"! The pattern would have to be extremely complex, and you'd have to be giving a very detailed description of it to warrant the use of "as follows".

An exercise to practise the phrase should concentrate on introducing very formal and fairly detailed explanations.

Sorry - that doesn't help you in your present dilemma, but at least if you get any of your sentences wrong, you can ask the teacher why you have to know such a thing in the first place!

Sue (sensei)

[Yuko]

Thank you hubertus and Sue.

I was somehow expecting those replies... but
let's say this is a task given to prevent some other words from being added on to those sentences, for translation purpose.

When other words are added on, e.g. [My sister's favourite TV programs is ... different from last year and BGT is no longer blah blah] rather than [My sister's favourite TV programs is ... News], the whole point of translation is messed up, therefore adding words must be prevented and the sentence must be completed to be reserved for only one object word to follow, thus 'as follows:' as an example.

I know it sounds bizarre but English must be good as well (if not perfect!) both in spoken form and written form

Wondering if there is any better way than 'as follows:' apart from not to adding it ...?