before (preposition) and in front of

Grammar

before: time

Grammar

in front of: place

Compare:

• I must move my car before nine o’clock.
• It’s parked in front of the station. (not … before the station.)

Before is normally used to refer to time. However, it can refer to place:

1. to talk about order in queues, lists, documents, etc

   • Do you mind? I was before / in front of you!
   • Her name comes before mine in the alphabet.
   • We use ‘a’ before a consonant and ‘an’ before a vowel.

2. to mean ‘in the presence of (somebody important)’

   • I came up before the magistrates for dangerous driving last week.

3. in the expressions right before one’s eyes, before one’s very eyes.

note

For the difference between in front of and facing/opposite, (see here).

For before as a conjunction, (see here).

For before as an adverb, (see here).

For by meaning ‘at/on or before’, (see here).