préliminaire

In a sentence

• Nous avons révisé les notes préliminaires avant la réunion.

  We reviewed the preliminary notes before the meeting.

  Here, 'préliminaires' is used as an adjective describing notes, suggesting that they are initial or introductory notes prepared before the main event.

• Avant de commencer le projet, nous devons établir les étapes préliminaires.

  Before starting the project, we must establish the preliminary steps.

  In this example, 'préliminaires' serves as an adjective modifying 'étapes', referring to initial steps required in preparation for the main tasks of the project.

• Il a parcouru les chapitres préliminaires du livre pour se faire une idée.

  He skimmed the preliminary chapters of the book to get an idea.

  Here, 'préliminaires' describes chapters, indicating that they are introductory or preparatory chapters at the beginning of the book.