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# precondition

«precondition» in Mova's school dictionary: **Something that must be true or must happen before…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a precondition, preconditions)

### meaning for a pupil

Something that must be true or must happen before something else can happen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

Used in formal talk, science and maths: «Water is a precondition for life.» In negotiations and rules: «There are no preconditions for joining the club.» In computing, a precondition is what must be true before a program step runs.

### examples

- Finishing your homework is a precondition for going out to play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x1)
- Oxygen is a precondition for fire. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x2)
- The talks began without any preconditions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x3)
- A precondition for joining the team is coming to training. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x4)
- Trust is a precondition for friendship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x5)
- Light is a precondition for photosynthesis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/#x6)

### note

Countable. Similar: requirement, condition, prerequisite. «Pre-» means before. Usually followed by «for» or «of».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «precondition» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/precondition/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.