antecedent
/ˌæntəˈsidənt/
noun
- A thing or event that comes before another, often influencing it.
- Each decision has antecedents that shape its outcome.
- The economic crisis was an antecedent to the new government policies.
- Studying the antecedents of the war helps us understand its causes.
- A word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to.
- In the sentence 'The dog wagged its tail,' 'dog' is the antecedent of 'its.'
- Finding the antecedent of 'they' in the paragraph can be tricky.
- A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender.
- A person's ancestors or family background.
- His antecedents include several famous artists.
- She researched her antecedents and discovered she was descended from immigrants.
- The family's antecedents can be traced back to the 18th century.
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Antonyms
adjective
- Coming before in time or order; previous.
- Antecedent conditions must be met before the experiment can begin.
- The antecedent events led to the final decision.
- In the antecedent chapter, the author introduces the main conflict.
Antonyms