What does forerunner mean?
Word: Forerunner
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Forerunner means a person or thing that came before another and prepared the way for it, or an early sign of something to come.
Synonyms: predecessor, pioneer, precursor
How do you spell forerunner?
Syllables: fore - run - ner
Tricky part: It is a compound of fore, meaning 'before', with its e kept. Students drop that e and write forrunner, or use four.
Watch out for: forrunner, fourrunner, forunner
Memory tip: A forerunner ran before the others, and fore means before, as in forecast and forehand: keep its e.
Forerunner in a sentence
Example 1: The abacus is a forerunner of the modern calculator.
Example 2: Dark clouds over the Arabian Sea were the forerunner of the monsoon.
Example 3: Many people call the telegraph a forerunner of today's text messages.
Fun Fact
In the 1300s a forerunner was a messenger who ran ahead of an important person to announce that he was on his way.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) foreword
b) forecast
c) foreruner
d) foresight
Show answer
c) foreruner. The second part is the word runner, and runner has a double n.
Word Tally
You get 2 marks for each correctly spelt word in the list. How many marks will you get?
forerunner, ancester, pioneer, predecesor, inventor, explorer
a) 8
b) 4
c) 6
d) 10
Show answer
a) 8. Ancestor ends in -or and predecessor has a double s, so four words are right and earn eight marks.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. forerunner 2. sequel 3. replica a. a book or film that continues an earlier story b. a person or thing that came before and prepared the way c. an exact copy of something
a) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
Show answer
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c. A forerunner comes before, a sequel comes after the first story, and a replica is a copy.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ore' pronounced differently?
a) forerunner
b) before
c) forest
d) adore
Show answer
c) forest. In forest the o is short, as in hot, and the e is a separate beat; in forerunner, adore and before the ore says 'or'.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these was a forerunner of the mobile phone?
a) the bicycle bell
b) the pressure cooker
c) the ceiling fan
d) the landline telephone
Show answer
d) the landline telephone
2. Which shows a forerunner followed by what came later?
a) calculator, then abacus
b) electric bulb, then oil lamp
c) smartphone, then landline
d) oil lamp, then electric bulb
Show answer
d) oil lamp, then electric bulb
