Vorziehen

Vorziehen is a German verb with two principal senses. In everyday use it means to prefer or to favor something over something else. In scheduling or planning, it also means to move an event to an earlier date or time. The verb is separable: in the present tense the form is ich ziehe ... vor, with the prefix split off, and in the perfect tense it takes the past participle vorgezogen and the auxiliary haben.

Grammatical notes and forms: Vorziehen is formed from vor- (forward, in front) and ziehen (to pull). It is commonly used with a thing that is preferred followed by a dative reference to the thing it is compared with. A typical sentence is Ich ziehe Kaffee dem Tee vor, meaning “I prefer coffee to tea.” For scheduling, one can say Der Termin wurde vorgezogen, meaning “The date has been moved forward (up).” The present participle is vorziehend, though it is rarely needed in ordinary speech.

Usage and nuance: Vorziehen expresses a clear preference or prioritization, and can be used across contexts from personal choices to administrative decisions. It is close in meaning to be vorzuziehen or bevorzugen, with vorziehen often conveying a more concrete choice or action (to actually move something ahead) rather than a general preference. The noun form das Vorziehen denotes the act or principle of preferring or of prioritizing, and can refer to both personal taste and procedural decisions.

See also: bevorzugen, vorziehen im scheduling context, vorgezogen.