French prepositions
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The prepositions avant and devant have somewhat similar meanings, which of course means that students sometimes get them confused. Learn the difference between avant and devant to get in front of any potential confusion.
Par exemple…
J’ai pris une photo devant le pont avant de le traverser.
I took a picture in front of the bridge before crossing it.
Avant
Avant means "before" in terms of time or a sequence of events. It can be used with expressions of time, nouns, and stressed pronouns.
| avant 10h | before 10 o’clock | |
| avant jeudi | before Thursday | |
| avant la réunion | before the meeting | |
| avant toi | before you |
Avant can also be used with verbs.
1) de + infinitive
| avant d’avoir des enfants | before having kids | |
| avant de te réveiller | before waking you up |
2) que + subject + ne explétif + subjunctive / past subjunctive
| avant que je n’aie des enfants | before I have kids | |
| avant que tu ne sois parti | before you left |
Antonym: après
Devant
Devant means "in front of" and indicates a position or location, whether literal or figurative. It’s used only with nouns and stressed pronouns.
| devant le restaurant | in front of the restaurant | |
| devant cette situation | in front of / faced with this situation | |
| Je veux m’asseoir devant toi. | I want to sit in front you. | |
| Passez devant (moi) | Go in front of me |
Antonym: derrière
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