The new principal focuses more on students' physical development than his predecessor did.

predecessor 由前缀 pre-（表示"前、先"）和 decessor（来自拉丁语decessor，意为"离开的人"）组成，字面意思是"先前离开的人"。 predecessor 指"前任、前辈"，特指在某个职位或位置上被接替的人。