Precede:It means to happen before something or to go in front of someone.
Proceed: It means to continue or to go/move forward.
Use of Precede
In the section just before this one, we showed that the value decreased with time.
can be written as,
In the preceding section, we showed that the value decreased with time.
Use of Proceed
The reaction continued after the intracytoplasmic sperm was injected.
can be written as,
The reaction proceeded after the intracytoplasmic sperm was injected.
Tips to remember the difference
The easiest way to differentiate these two words is by focusing on the prefix ‘pre’. ‘Pre’ means ‘before’.
Example: Precedent, preclude, previous
So if you want to talk about something that has happened before say ‘precede’.
Use ‘proceed’ to tell what is happening next!