Avant vs Devant
French Prepositions
Lesson | Test
Because they can both mean before, there is often confusion between the prepositions avant and devant (and their opposites après and derrière). But there's a big difference in the way they are used.
| Avant expresses something to do with time. It can also be used with a physical location when you mean before [arriving at]. Avant can be used in front of a temporal expression, noun, pronoun, verb, or clause. | ||
| avant midi | before noon | |
| avant l'examen | before the test | |
| Il est parti avant moi. | He left before me. | |
| Je me suis arrêté avant le carrefour. | I stopped before [arriving at] the intersection. | |
| avant de partir* | before leaving | |
| avant qu'il ne parte (why ne?) | before he leaves | |
| *In front of an infinitive, de must be added after avant. | ||
| Devant expresses position or location (figurative or literal) and means before or in front of. It can be used only in front of a noun or pronoun. | ||
| devant la voiture | in front of the car | |
| devant les juges | before the judges | |
| devant le danger | faced with / in the face of danger | |
| Il est devant toi. | He's in front of you. | |
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