# Word usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008 "2005-07-31T13:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/1 "2005-07-31T13:50:35Z")
I found this in an article about the movie ‘Se7en’. "Each sin is listed below with the sinner proceeding it. Gluttony: fat man Greed: Eli gould (lawyer) Sloth: Vicktor (drug dealer) Lust: man who hired hooker Pride: beautiful woman Envy: John Doe Wrath: David Mills" I thought ‘preceed’ was the wrong word but after looking at several online dictionaries it seems that ‘proceed’ can mean ‘to come before’ or ‘to continue after a pause’. In the above example, is ‘procceding’ used correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Hallowmass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hallowmass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallowmass)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/2 "2005-07-31T13:57:37Z")
> [@](#): > > "Each sin is listed below with the sinner proceeding it. That is correct. > [@](#): > > it seems that ‘proceed’ can mean ‘to come before’ I think this is incorrect. Proceed would mean ‘to come after’ (as in ‘sinner proceeding it’; the sinners are listed _after_ the sins in your list.) ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/3 "2005-07-31T14:05:40Z")
From ‘Encarta’: "1.begin action 2.continue with action" ---
**Author:** ![Hallowmass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hallowmass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallowmass)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/4 "2005-07-31T14:08:51Z")
Hm. I’ve never seen ‘proceed’ used to replace ‘precede’. In the case you presented, though, ‘proceed’ means ‘follows’ or ‘comes after’ because the sinners are listed after the sins. That’s interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/5 "2005-07-31T14:10:11Z")
Regardless of whether it **can** be used that way, it’s pretty clear that the better word would be “succeeding,” and the best word would be “following.” ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/6 "2005-07-31T14:11:17Z")
They could have chosen a better word to describe something that follows another thing. Subsequent posters will proceed to describe this better than I can. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/7 "2005-07-31T14:57:16Z")
Clever enough, Patty, You posted and stopped. Now someone resuming the thread will ‘proceed’. But in the original example, there didn’t seem to be a stopping point. Unless you can say the second half of a sentence proceeds the first. It would only seem to be so if you arbitrarily broke the sentence in two. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/8 "2005-07-31T17:14:04Z")
The fundamental problem here is that “proceed” is an instransitive verb: it doesn’t take an object. Something can proceed, but can’t proceed another thing. “Follow,” on the other hand, is transitive, so one thing can follow another. The usage in the OP is just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage/315008/9 "2005-07-31T19:57:17Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > The fundamental problem here is that “proceed” is an instransitive verb: it doesn’t take an object. Something can proceed, but can’t proceed another thing. “Follow,” on the other hand, is transitive, so one thing can follow another. The usage in the OP is just wrong. Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right about that. This is definitely a usage error, anyway. “Proceed” does not mean precisely the same thing as “follow”; this is a very weird-sounding sentence.