Precede vs. Proceed 

"Precede" vs. "Proceed" in English

What Is Their Main Difference?

They are only similar in that they have similar pronunciations. 'Proceed' indicates continuing and moving forward, whereas, 'precede' refers to coming before something/someone.

Differences

As mentioned above, 'precede' signifies coming before something/someone. It can refer to position, rank, movement, etc. Look at the examples below:

Example

His name preceded mine.

Respect is not about women preceding men. It's about women being treated equally as men.

'Proceed', on the other hand, refers to continuing and making progress in what you were doing. Check out the examples below:

Example

The teacher said: 'Please, do proceed Mr. Hopkins.'

Can we still proceed according to the plan?

Similarities

As mentioned above, they are only similar in that they have similar pronunciations.

Are They Interchangeable?

Although these two might sound similar, they cannot be used interchangeably. 'Precede' indicates coming before something/someone, whereas, 'proceed' refers to moving forward. Compare:

Example

✓ The children preceded the bride and the groom.

X The children proceeded the bride and the groom.

Here, the sentence is semantically wrong.

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