przede

Przede is a historic and literary form of a Polish preposition that is now rarely used in everyday language. In modern Polish, the standard preposition for marking a position in front of something or earlier in time is przed. Przede survives primarily in older texts, poetry, religious writings, and certain regional or stylistic usages, where it conveys a similar meaning to przed: in front of, before, or earlier than.

In usage, przed is most commonly encountered in fixed or semi-fixed phrases. The best-known example is przede wszystkim, a phrase meaning above all or first and foremost. Beyond this set expression, przed appears in older prose and verse to indicate spatial or temporal precedence, similar to the contemporary przed, but with a more emphatic or archaic tone. Today, readers are more likely to encounter przed in quotations, studies of historical language, or in the diction of characterful literary narration.

Etymologically, przed originates from an older or dialectal variant of the preposition przed, historically used in Polish across different stages of the language. Over time, usage shifted toward the standard przed in most contexts, and przed retained its niche role in literature and historical texts. In contemporary reference works, przed is typically described as an archaism or a stylistic device rather than a productive part of modern grammar.

See also: prepositions in Polish, przed (standard preposition), przede form in idioms.