“prepone”
Outside South Asia, say “bring forward” or “move earlier”. Americans also say “move up”. “Prepone” is standard in India but most listeners elsewhere won't have heard it.
Updated · Loista team
Understood across India
Can we prepone the meeting to 3?
Travels further
- Can we bring the meeting forward to 3?
- Can we move the meeting up to 3?
- Can we move the meeting earlier, to 3?
Why it lands differently
“Prepone” was coined in India as the opposite of “postpone”, and dictionaries list it as Indian English. Elsewhere people meet it for the first time and have to guess. “Move earlier” is the safest choice, because it works for every listener.
When it's fine
With colleagues in India, in Indian newspapers, and in any message where everyone reading it uses the word.
Try it out loud
Read each line, say a version that travels out loud, then open it to compare. Any version that's clear to a listener abroad counts.
The exam has been preponed by a week.
The exam has been brought forward by a week.
Can you prepone your flight?
Can you get an earlier flight?
We had to prepone the launch.
We had to move the launch earlier.
Practise saying it, not just reading it
Loista gives you a realistic speaking prompt and specific feedback on your answer, then a retry focused on one thing, so you can hear whether it landed.
In the App Store and Google Play as Brinlet until our next update.
For adults aged 18 and over.