preteriri

A genuine seam, and a whole small family hanging off it.Preter is a preposition meaning past, by, beyond, and iri is to go. Put them together and you get exactly what the parts say: to go past. Nothing is hidden and nothing is idiomatic.

That is the pattern the language uses for the whole set. A preposition welded to the front of a verb keeps its own meaning and narrows the verb:

• preteriri - to go past something
• preterlasi - to let something go past, so to miss it or leave it out
• preterpasi - to pass by, and figuratively to overtake or surpass
• preterflugi - to fly past

The trick worth taking away is that you can build the rest yourself. Nobody has to teach you preterveturi or preterkuri: preter plus the verb of motion means going past by that means, every time.

Transitive, which surprises people. The bare preposition takes an object of its own (li iris preter la domo), but once it is bolted onto the verb the compound takes the accusative directly: li preteriris la domon. Both are correct Esperanto and both are common; the compound is tighter and is what you will meet in prose.

The figurative reach. Time preteriras as readily as people do - la jaroj preteriris - and a chance can preteriri you. That is where it starts to overlap with preterlasi, and the difference is who is responsible: the opportunity preteriris on its own, but you preterlasis it, and only the second one is your fault.