Preceding means 'the one just before'. It points backwards from some moment or place you have already named. 'The preceding year' is the year before the one being talked about; 'the preceding paragraph' is the paragraph just above.

Preceding意思是 means 'the one just before'「就在前面的那一個」。It它 from some moment or place you have already named從你已經提過的某個時刻或地方，points backwards往回指。'The preceding year''the preceding year' is是 the year before the one being talked about指正在講的那一年之前的那一年；'the preceding paragraph''the preceding paragraph' is是 the paragraph just above指正上面的那一段。

Two things make it different from 'previous', which is its close neighbour. First, preceding is more formal and more written — you meet it in reports, textbooks, contracts and academic writing, almost never in speech. Second, and this is the useful part, preceding is measured against a point in the story, not against now.

Two things有兩件事 make it different from 'previous'讓它跟『previous』不一樣，which is its close neighbour而previous是它的近鄰。First第一，preceding is more formal and more writtenpreceding比較正式、比較書面——you meet it in reports, textbooks, contracts and academic writing你會在報告、教科書、合約，還有學術寫作裡遇到它，almost never in speech口語裡幾乎不會用。Second, and this is the useful part第二，這是有用的部分：preceding is measured against a point in the storypreceding是拿故事裡的某個時間點來衡量，not against now不是拿現在來衡量。

'Last year' means the year before today. 'The preceding year' means the year before whatever year we were just discussing, which might be 1890. So it is the word writers reach for when they are moving through a sequence.

'Last year''Last year' means意思是 the year before today今天之前的那一年。'The preceding year''The preceding year' means意思是 the year before whatever year we were just discussing我們剛剛在討論的那一年之前的那一年，which might be 1890那一年可能是1890年。So所以 when they are moving through a sequence當作者在按順序敘述時，it is the word writers reach for這就是他們會用的字。

It sits in front of a noun ('the preceding chapter'), and unlike 'previous' it is not really used after the verb — you do not say 'the chapter was preceding'.

It sits in front of a noun ('the preceding chapter')它會放在名詞前面（像「the preceding chapter」），and unlike 'previous'而且跟『previous』不一樣，it is not really used after the verb它不太會放在動詞後面用——you do not say 'the chapter was preceding'你不會說「the chapter was preceding」。

The same form is also the -ing form of the verb precede, as in 'the storm preceding the flood', meaning the storm that came before it.

The same form同樣的形式 is also the -ing form of the verb precede也是動詞precede的-ing形式，as in 'the storm preceding the flood'像「the storm preceding the flood」，meaning the storm that came before it意思是在那之前來的那場暴風雨。