antecedent
antecedent — 形容詞
- antecedentpositive
- more antecedentcomparative
- most antecedentsuperlative
1. coming before another thing in time, order, or development.
先前的
在時間或順序上較早的
coming before another thing in time, order, or development.
Doctors looked for antecedent illnesses before Mei's heart surgery.
醫師在 Mei 動心臟手術前，先查看是否有先前的疾病。
formal adjective before noun: antecedent illnesses
The judge asked whether any antecedent agreement still bound the partners.
法官詢問任何先前的協議是否仍約束那些合夥人。
Heavy rain was antecedent to the landslide above the village.
豪雨先於山崩發生，是那場災害的先前條件。
The report begins with antecedent events from the week before the crash.
這份報告先交代車禍前一週較早發生的事件。
- subsequent
formal; coming after something else
- following
coming later in order or time
文法句型
antecedent + noun
be antecedent to + noun
用法筆記
Mostly used in formal or technical writing, often directly before a noun. In everyday English, people usually choose 'earlier' or 'previous' instead.
antecedent — 名詞
- antecedentsingular
- antecedentsplural
1. an earlier person, thing, event, or condition that comes before another one and
前因
先於結果出現的原因或事物
an earlier person, thing, event, or condition that comes before another one and often helps bring it about.
Historians see the tax protests as an antecedent of the later revolt.
歷史學家把那些抗稅行動視為後來叛亂的前因。
pattern: antecedent of + later event
The long drought was an antecedent to the food shortage.
長期乾旱是糧食短缺的前因。
pattern: antecedent to + result
Teachers discussed childhood stress as a possible antecedent of later addiction.
老師們討論童年壓力是否可能是日後成癮的前因。
The small kitchen fire was an antecedent of the larger disaster.
那場小廚房火災是後來大災難的前因。
- precursor
often stresses an early sign or stage before something later
- forerunner
suggests something that comes before and points toward what follows
- predecessor
can simply mean an earlier version or holder, with less focus on cause
- result
what comes after the earlier cause
- consequence
the outcome produced by something earlier
文法句型
an antecedent of something
an antecedent to something
用法筆記
Common in formal discussion of history, logic, or cause and effect. It often points to something that helps explain a later result, not simply anything that happened earlier.
常見錯誤
2. a noun, noun phrase, name, or clause that a later pronoun points back to.
先行詞
後面代名詞指回的詞語
a noun, noun phrase, name, or clause that a later pronoun points back to.
In 'Mina lost her keys,' 'Mina' is the antecedent of 'her.'
在「Mina lost her keys」這句裡，Mina 是 her 的先行詞。
grammar term: antecedent of a pronoun
In class, Noor circled each antecedent before underlining its pronoun.
上課時，Noor 在每個先行詞下面畫圈，再畫出它的代名詞。
In 'the boy who waved,' 'the boy' is the antecedent of 'who.'
在「the boy who waved」這句裡，the boy 是 who 的先行詞。
The worksheet asked Christopher to match every pronoun with its antecedent.
那張講義要 Christopher 把每個代名詞和它的先行詞配對。
文法句型
the antecedent of a pronoun
pronoun + antecedent
用法筆記
Used in grammar and language teaching. The antecedent usually appears earlier in the sentence, although writers sometimes mention the pronoun first and identify the antecedent later.
常見錯誤
3. a family member from long ago who belongs to the line you come from.
祖先
家族中久遠以前的成員
a family member from long ago who belongs to the line you come from.
Saira found an antecedent in church records from a nineteenth-century fishing town.
Saira 在十九世紀漁村的教會紀錄裡找到一位祖先。
formal family-history use
The museum traced the king's antecedents through old marriage records.
博物館透過舊婚姻紀錄追查那位國王的祖先。
Eshe hopes to learn whether her Scottish antecedents farmed this valley.
Eshe 希望知道她的蘇格蘭祖先是否曾在這座山谷務農。
A family story says one antecedent sailed to Taiwan from Fujian.
家族傳說說有一位祖先曾從福建航海到台灣。
- descendant
a person who comes later in the family line
文法句型
an antecedent of someone
family antecedents
用法筆記
This sense is formal and less common than 'ancestor'. It often appears in historical or family-record writing, and the plural 'antecedents' can mean a person's family background.