перед

• пе́редъ (péred) (Pre-reform orthography (1918))
• пе́редо (péredo) (before awkward consonant clusters)

From Old East Slavic передъ (peredŭ), from Proto-Slavic *perdъ, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per-, whence also пере- (pere-), перез (perez). Doublet of пред (pred), a borrowing from Old Church Slavonic.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpʲerʲɪt]

• Audio

  (file)

пе́ред • (péred) (+ instrumental case)

1. in front of, before
2. right/immediately before

• The preposition takes nouns in the instrumental case.
• Пе́ред and до (do) have similar meanings, but they are not interchangeable.

  When speaking about time:

  до моме́нта (do moménta) can mean quite a long time, whereas пе́ред моме́нтом (péred moméntom) means just before the very moment.

  Examples:

  Дава́й встре́тимся до рабо́ты.

  Daváj vstrétimsja do rabóty.

  Let’s meet before work.

  (any time between now and when we start work, and the meeting could be anywhere)

  Дава́й встре́тимся пе́ред рабо́той.

  Daváj vstrétimsja péred rabótoj.

  Let’s meet before work.

  (just before we start work, immediately before work, and probably at the job site)

  When speaking about space:

  До города́ ещё далеко́.

  Do gorodá ješčó dalekó.

  The city is still far away.

  (measured from here to there)

  Я дошёл до перекрёстка

  Ja došól do perekrjóstka

  I reached the crossroads.

  (going from here to there)

  Пе́ред сою́зом «что» ста́вится запята́я.

  Péred sojúzom “što” stávitsja zapjatája.

  A comma is placed before the conjunction “što”.

  (immediately before that word)

• The preposition пе́ред can be combined with са́мым (sámym). For example:

  Мы пригото́вились к экза́менам пе́ред са́мым обе́дом.

  My prigotóvilisʹ k ekzámenam péred sámym obédom.

  We prepared for the exams right before lunch.

  Sentences with пе́ред са́мым use perfective verbs. Compared to sentences with perfective verbs while using the ordinary пе́ред, it has a much shorter interval between the completed action/event and the particular action/event that the пе́ред са́мым modifies. Hence, пе́ред са́мым has a bigger emphasis meaning-wise than the ordinary пе́ред.

• пред (pred), предо (predo)

• пе́ред тем как (péred tem kak)
• переда́ча (peredáča)

пе́ред • (péred) m inan (genitive пе́реда, nominative plural переда́, genitive plural передо́в)

1. front, forepart

• зад (zad)

• пере́дний (perédnij)
• пере́дник (perédnik)
• передово́й (peredovój)
• передо́к (peredók)
• перёд (perjód)

• Černyx, P. Ja. (1999), “перед”, in Istoriko-etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volume 2, 3rd reprint edition, Moscow: Russkij jazyk, page 21
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “перед”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Trubačóv O. N., Moscow: Progress