Devant vs avant in French: in front of or before

Use devant for physical position: “in front of”. Use avant for time or order: “before”. Il attend devant la porte means he is waiting in front of the door. Il arrive avant midi means he arrives before noon.

Devant is about place

Devant answers “where?” It places one thing in front of another.

Le bus s’arrête devant l’école.
The bus stops in front of the school.

It can also mean “ahead of” someone in a line or position:

Elle est devant moi dans la queue.
She is ahead of me in the line.

If you can imagine a physical scene, devant is usually the word you need.

Avant is about time or order

Avant answers “when?” or “in what order?”

Je pars avant huit heures.
I leave before eight o’clock.

Lis le chapitre avant l’examen.
Read the chapter before the exam.

For a full clause, use avant de before an infinitive or avant que before a conjugated verb. At A2, the most useful pattern is avant de + infinitive:

Ferme la porte avant de partir.
Close the door before leaving.

Common mistakes

Using avant for physical location

If the meaning is “in front of a place or thing”, use devant.

J’attends avant la gare. → J’attends devant la gare.
I’m waiting in front of the station.

Using devant for time

If the meaning is “before an event or time”, use avant.

Je mange devant le cours. → Je mange avant le cours.
I eat before class.

Translating before me too quickly

“Before me” can be time/order or physical position. Choose from the situation.

Elle est arrivée avant moi. Elle est assise devant moi.
She arrived before me. She is sitting in front of me.

Devant is one of the core French prepositions of place, while avant belongs with time expressions such as en vs dans. Fluera practices them in short scenes, so you decide whether the sentence is about position or time before choosing the word. Try it when you practice French.

Practice