Avant vs devant

Avant and devant have similar, but distinct, meanings in French. They can both be translated as ‘before’, but are generally used in different contexts. Let’s take a look.

We use avant to mean before when talking about the time or order in which something happened. It can be followed by a noun, pronoun or verb.

Avant + noun/pronoun

Nous devrions rentrer chez nous avant le coucher du soleil. - We should get home before sunset.

Elle est partie avant lui. - She left before him.

Ne mangez pas trop avant le déjeuner. - Don't eat too much before lunch.

Avant + Verb

There are two ways to use avant with a verb.

De

We use de after avant when the verb that follows has the same subject.

Regardez des deux côtés avant de traverser la route. - Look both ways before crossing the road.

Il a payé avant de vérifier l'addition. - He paid before checking the bill.

Que + subject + subjunctive

We use que after avant when the verb that follows has a different subject. In this case, you must add the new subject, and the verb after avant must be in the subjunctive.

Nous devrions partir avant qu'ils ne* nous voient. - We should leave before they see us.

Prends-le avant qu'il ne* change d'avis. - Take it before he changes his mind.

The future tense is never used with a verb following avant, only past and present tenses.

*In these examples, the ne after que is not negative, but is rather an example of the ne explétif. To learn more about the ne explétif, check out our blog.

We use devant to mean before or in front of when talking about the location or position of something in relation to something else. It can be followed by a noun or pronoun.

Je suis devant la mairie. - I'm standing in front of the town hall.

Il a comparu devant le juge. - He appeared before the judge.

Les enfants marchent devant nous.- The children are walking in front of us.

Devant is also used to mean 'faced with', as in the following examples:

Il est resté silencieux devant cette injustice. - He remained silent in the face of this injustice.

Devant un problème aussi immense, il a démissionné. - Faced with such a huge problem, he resigned.

For more French prepositions, be sure to check out our blog, or Lesson 09 of The Complete French Course.