Przed

Przed is a Polish preposition with core senses of location and time, roughly translating to “in front of,” “before,” or “ahead of” in English. It can indicate spatial relations, such as the position of an object in front of another, as well as temporal relations, referring to something that occurs earlier than another reference. In formal and idiomatic use, przed can also express precedence, presence, or anticipation. The preposition governs the instrumental case, so the noun that follows is in instrumental singular (for example, przed domem, przed południem).

Grammatical use and examples illustrate its versatility. Spatial examples include Auto stoi przed domem (“The car is in front of the house”) and Drzwi znajdują się przed wejściem. Temporal uses include Przed obiadem zrobiliśmy przerwę and Przed godziną wróciłem do domu, both requiring instrumental forms like domem, obiadem, godziną. In phrases indicating presence or procedural order, one might encounter Przed sądem wygłoszono oświadczenie or Przed spotkaniem omówiono plan działania, again using instrumental nouns.

Etymology and related notes: przed comes from Proto-Slavic predъ and has been part of Polish since at least Old Polish. It is closely contrasted with counterparts such as za (“behind”) or po (“after/in the course of”) and is rarely substituted by other prepositions without changing meaning. A more literary or archaic variant, przede, exists in some fixed expressions or older texts but is uncommon in contemporary usage.

Overall, przed is a common preposition in Polish grammar, central to expressing spatial and temporal relations while requiring the instrumental case for the following noun.