EnglishClub ESL Forums

Hi,

I was talking to a colleague in English and there was some confusion with regards to the use of "in front of". Following is the question:
There is a set of numbers 12345 and there is a set of alphabets: abc

If I ask you to put the alphabets "in front of" the numbers, how would you write them.

Option 1) 12345 abc
Option 2) abc 12345

My thought process is that the word "in front" could be be substituted with "after". If i asked you:
put the alphabets "after" the numbers, it would surely be 12345abc, i am assuming it would then be the same case for "in front of" however, I am uncertain.

Any help is much appreciated ! :)

Option 1 is correct. "in front of" means 'before' in this example.
"Put the letters (not 'the alphabet') in front of / before the numbers."

As the previous person said, "In front of" means before when you are looking at things in a row.
1, 2, 3 ,4. 1 is in front of the other numbers. You can think of a row of people in a line at the bank. Everyone is waiting to be helped. The person who will be helped first (before the other people) is in front of all the other people waiting.

I hope this helped you to understand the phrase better.