föregå

Föregå is a Swedish verb meaning to go before or come before in time or order, i.e., to precede. It can describe events, actions, or elements that occur earlier than something else. In idiomatic usage it also forms expressions such as föregå med gott exempel, meaning to lead by example.

Etymology and related terms: föregå is a compound of före meaning before and gå meaning to go. The word has a literary and formal tone and is used in both concrete and figurative contexts. A related noun is föregångare, meaning forerunner or precursor.

Usage and forms: Föregå is a regular-sounding but morphologically irregular verb in some tenses. Common forms include: infinitive föregå, present föregår, preterite föregick, and past participle (supine) föregått. In modern Swedish, the perfect tense is typically formed with har föregått. The verb is transitive and can take a direct object or be used with a prepositional phrase to indicate what preceded what.

Typical contexts: it is used to describe things that occur prior to others, such as events, statements, or conditions. It also appears in formal or historical prose to trace sequence and precedence. The well-known idiom föregå med gott exempel remains a key example of its figurative use.

See also: föregångare (forerunner), precede as a general concept. The phrase föregå används often in legal, historical, or formal writing to denote temporal or logical precedence.