precede
When you precede something, it means you come before it. Think about a line of toy cars. If your favorite blue car is at the front, it precedes all the other cars behind it. It’s like being the leader in a parade, showing everyone else the way.
Another way to understand precede is to imagine a storybook. The cover of the book precedes the first page, just like the beginning of a story comes before the middle and the end. It sets the stage for everything that happens next.
Consider a race at the playground. If you start running before your friend, you precede them in the race. You are the first to go, and they follow you. Being first doesn’t always mean being the winner, but it does mean you started before anyone else.
Think of the sun and the moon. The sun precedes the moon in the sky every day. It rises in the morning, lighting up the world, and then the moon comes out at night, following after the sun has gone to sleep.