‘Precursor’ is a term that most of you have come across many times in your life. The term means a person or an object that comes before the other of the same type. The term has been used as a phrase and it is used to denote that something or someone has come before the other person or thing.
Taking an example here: ‘The movie trailer is just a standard precursor of the entire movie’, here in the sentence you can understand that the term ‘precursor’ is used to denote that the trailer of the movie is just a standard clip of the entire movie that comes before the movie.
Precursor To vs Precursor Of
The main difference between precursor to and precursor of is that precursor to come in the line of ‘toward’ which means pointing towards something. In other words, precursor to would lead to something new. The precursor of, on the other hand, will mean that where a particular object or a person comes from. It will denote the origin of that thing. It would show where the new thing came from.
However, one must know how they are different from each other because often people tend to make mistakes by confusing between them. Making mistakes becomes unnecessary if one does not understand when and where to use these terms or phrases.
Comparison Table Between Precursor To and Precursor Of
| Parameters of Comparison | Precursor To | Precursor Of |
| Used | Precursor to are used and means almost similar to precursor of. | Precursor of is used frequently and is used much more than precursor to. |
| Interchangeable | There is no clear instructions when and where to use these phrases and can be used interchangeably. | The same thing can be used in one place of the other without making much difference in the sentence. |
| Importance | Precursor to are used when you are showing importance to something. | Precursor of is not used when you are showing importance to something or someone. |
| Examples | The telephone was the precursor to the smartphones today. | The telephone was the precursor of the smartphones of today. |
What is Precursor To?
The precursor to means that something that comes before something or someone. There is not much difference when you use precursor to and precursor of. But, it is necessary for you to understand the difference between the two and which one is preferred the most.
The precursor to and precursor of both are phrases and can be used interchangeably which sometimes become very confusing for people to understand. The precursor to means something along the lines of toward like pointing to something. The precursor to means that something that would lead to something new or towards something new.
However, when you are showing importance to someone or to something then precursor to is used and they are rarely used because precursor of is widely used than the latter. Since there is no clear pattern about how to use these phrases people tend to get confused between the two and think that there is not much difference.
As given from the example from the table the preposition ‘to’ shows that referring to a new thing. Like in the example that the telephones were the precursor to the smartphones today then smartphones was referred to as something new.
This is how distinctions are made between the two and people now prefer to use precursor of more than precursor to. Well, it depends up on you to choose which one to use in a certain place or in a sentence. The meaning will almost be the same thing without any hindrance.
What is Precursor Of?
Precursor of, on the other hand, has an almost similar meaning to that precursor to. But, it is the people who chose precursor of over precursor to and is used widely all over the world. Precursor of would means where something or someone comes from. In other words, when you want to refer to the origin of something then precursor of is used.
Precursor of would refer to something where the new thing came from. Precursor of and precursor to would mean almost the same thing if you have used in a sentence because there is no clear pattern to use them. As said earlier than most people tend to make the mistake of confusing between the two.
Like in the given example above it is said that the telephone was the precursor of the smartphones of today. In this example you can see that shows that the origin of the thing in the question. The sentence is showing that from where the new thing has come from or from where it originated.
There are clear cut examples and tutorials on the internet to understand which one means which. Since there is not much difference between these two phrases and can be used interchangeably then there is no need to pay much attention to learn tutorials.
Main Difference Between Precursor To and Precursor Of
- There is not much difference between these two phrases or terms and can be used in place of the other.
- Precursor to means something that leads to a new thing.
- Precursor of, on the other hand, means where the new thing has come from or the origin of that particular thing or person.
- Precursor means something that comes before something like a movie trailer is released before the release of the movie.
Conclusion
In the end, it is clear that no matter which one you use or choose to use it will not matter much because these two phrases would mean almost the same thing. But, it is important to know the little difference that they make whether it is their meaning or something else. Many times you can come across these terms and then you can understand how they are used in a particular sentence.