What's the difference between avant and devant?

Avant is before in time: avant le déjeuner, before lunch. Devant is in front of in space: devant le restaurant, outside the restaurant. English uses before for both, so the choice has to be made on meaning rather than on translation.

How do I say before doing something?

Avant de plus the infinitive, when the subject is the same in both halves: avant de sortir, avant d'appeler, avant de me coucher. Avant on its own cannot introduce a verb.

Why does avant que take the subjunctive?

Because the second event has not happened at the point the first one occurs, so it is still unrealised. Je partirai avant qu'il arrive uses the subjunctive arrive for exactly that reason, and this is one of the most reliable subjunctive triggers in French.

What is the ne in avant qu'il ne parte?

It is the ne explétif, a stylistic leftover with no negative meaning at all. Avant qu'il ne parte and avant qu'il parte mean the same thing; the first is simply more careful or more literary.

Can devant ever mean before?

In the sense of in the presence of, yes: devant la loi, devant témoins, devant une telle réaction. English before survives in those same phrases, which is why they feel familiar. For anything to do with time, French needs avant.

French grammar · Intermediate

Avant vs. Devant: Before in Time, In Front of in Space

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Avant means before in time; devant means in front of in space. English before covers both, so the pair has to be separated deliberately: avant le concert is earlier than the concert, devant la salle is outside the door.

Je passe devant chez toi avant midi.

I'll go past your place before noon.

What it is

Both words descend from the same root, which is why they look alike, but modern French keeps them strictly apart. Avant works on a timeline and answers when; devant works in physical space and answers where.

Avant la réunion, attends-moi devant l'entrée. — Before the meeting, wait for me in front of the entrance.

How to spot it

Substitute earlier than. If the sentence still makes sense, you want avant. If you have to say in front of instead, you want devant.

avant huit heures — before eight o'clock (time)
devant la mairie — in front of the town hall (place)
avant les autres — before the others (sequence)
assis devant moi — sitting in front of me (position)

Both can stand alone as adverbs, and there the difference stays the same: je l'ai vu avant means I saw him earlier, je l'ai vu devant means I saw him at the front.

Avant vs. Devant Quick Reference

Which word for which idea

Meaning	Word	Example
Earlier than	avant	avant le dîner — before dinner
Before doing something	avant de + infinitive	avant de sortir — before going out
Before someone else does	avant que + subjunctive	avant qu'il arrive — before he arrives
In front of a place	devant	devant la gare — in front of the station
In front of a person	devant	devant moi — in front of me
Faced with, in the presence of	devant	devant la difficulté — faced with the difficulty
Forwards	en avant	Un pas en avant. — One step forward.

Common Avant vs. Devant Examples in French

The two words in the situations that belong to each:

Avant for Time

Rentre avant minuit.: Be home before midnight.
Il faut réserver avant vendredi.: You have to book before Friday.
Je n'avais jamais vu ça avant.: I'd never seen that before.
C'était mieux avant.: Things were better before.

Avant on its own means beforehand or in the past, and it is extremely common in speech.

Devant for Position

Il y a une fontaine devant le musée.: There's a fountain in front of the museum.
Assieds-toi devant.: Sit at the front.
Je me suis garé devant chez eux.: I parked outside their place.
Le bus s'arrête juste devant.: The bus stops right in front.

Devant chez quelqu'un is the ordinary way to say outside somebody's house.

Avant With a Verb

Éteins la lumière avant de partir.: Turn the light off before you leave.
Réfléchis avant de répondre.: Think before you answer.
Je veux finir avant qu'il rentre.: I want to finish before he gets back.
Partons avant qu'il ne soit trop tard.: Let's go before it's too late.

Avant de introduces an infinitive when the subject stays the same; avant que introduces a subjunctive clause when it changes.

Devant in Figurative Use

Tous sont égaux devant la loi.: Everyone is equal before the law.
Il a parlé devant deux cents personnes.: He spoke in front of two hundred people.
Devant tant de générosité, elle est restée sans voix.: Faced with such generosity, she was speechless.
Ne dis pas ça devant les enfants.: Don't say that in front of the children.

This is the one place English also uses before: before the law, before an audience. Everywhere else, English before means avant.

How the Two Words Work

Avant carries most of the grammar, because it can introduce both an infinitive and a subordinate clause.

Avant Alone Takes Only a Noun or Pronoun

Directly after avant you can put a time, an event or a person: avant midi, avant le film, avant moi. A verb needs one of the extended forms, avant de or avant que.

Elle est arrivée avant tout le monde.

She arrived before everybody else.

avant + noun.

Avant De Introduces an Infinitive

When both actions belong to the same subject, French uses avant de plus the infinitive. This is far more common in writing than the clause version, and it avoids the subjunctive altogether.

Lave-toi les mains avant de manger.

Wash your hands before eating.

Same subject → avant de + infinitive.

Avant Que Introduces the Subjunctive

When the second action has a different subject, you need a full clause, and avant que always takes the subjunctive because the event has not happened yet.

Je voudrais lui parler avant qu'il parte.

I'd like to talk to him before he leaves.

Different subject → avant que + subjunctive.

The Optional Ne Explétif

Careful and literary French often inserts ne after avant que. It is not a negation and adds no meaning, and leaving it out is entirely acceptable in speech.

Finissons avant qu'il ne pleuve.

Let's finish before it rains.

avant qu'il ne… still means before it does.

Devant Is Purely Spatial, Plus One Metaphor

Devant marks position on the near side of something, and by extension the presence of witnesses or an obstacle: devant la loi, devant témoins, devant tant de problèmes. It never marks time.

Il n'a rien dit devant ses parents.

He said nothing in front of his parents.

devant ↔ derrière.

Common Mistakes with Avant vs. Devant

Incorrect: Avant partir, appelle-moi. — Before leaving, call me.

Correct: Avant de partir, appelle-moi. — Before leaving, call me.

Avant cannot take a bare infinitive. With the same subject on both sides, the required form is avant de plus the infinitive.

Incorrect: Je veux partir avant qu'il arrivera. — I want to leave before he arrives.

Correct: Je veux partir avant qu'il arrive. — I want to leave before he arrives.

Avant que always takes the subjunctive, never the future. The event is still hypothetical at the moment of speaking, which is exactly what the subjunctive marks.

Incorrect: L'arrêt de bus est avant la maison. — The bus stop is in front of the house.

Correct: L'arrêt de bus est devant la maison. — The bus stop is in front of the house.

Avant orders events in time and cannot place an object. A fixed position on the near side of something is always devant.

Incorrect: Il est arrivé devant moi, à sept heures. — He arrived before me, at seven.

Correct: Il est arrivé avant moi, à sept heures. — He arrived before me, at seven.

Arriving earlier is a matter of time, so it takes avant. Devant moi would mean he was standing in front of me when he arrived.

The Two Constructions With Avant, and Some Set Phrases

Choosing between avant de and avant que is a matter of subjects; the rest is vocabulary worth learning whole.

Avant de or avant que

One subject, one verb: avant de plus the infinitive. Two different subjects: avant que plus the subjunctive. The infinitive version is always preferred when both are possible.

Téléphone-moi avant de venir.: Call me before you come.
Je veux le voir avant qu'il ne s'en aille.: I want to see him before he goes.
Réfléchis bien avant de signer.: Think carefully before signing.
Range tout avant que tes parents rentrent.: Tidy up before your parents get back.

The subjunctive after avant que is compulsory, unlike après que, which takes the indicative.

Avant in fixed expressions

Several very common phrases use avant with a meaning that is no longer strictly temporal.

avant tout: above all, first and foremost
Faisons un pas en avant.: Let's take a step forward.
la semaine d'avant: the week before
Je l'avais déjà remarqué auparavant.: I had already noticed it beforehand.

Auparavant is the formal adverb for beforehand; avant does the same job in conversation.

Devant as an adverb and a noun

With nothing after it, devant means at the front. With an article it becomes a noun meaning the front of something, and prendre les devants means to take the initiative.

Les enfants montent devant.: The children sit in the front.
Le devant de la maison est en pierre.: The front of the house is stone.
Elle a pris les devants et a téléphoné.: She took the initiative and phoned.
Il est parti sans regarder devant lui.: He set off without looking where he was going.

Sens devant derrière means back to front, and it uses both halves of the pair in one phrase.

Avant vs. Devant FAQs

What's the difference between avant and devant?: Avant is before in time: avant le déjeuner, before lunch. Devant is in front of in space: devant le restaurant, outside the restaurant. English uses before for both, so the choice has to be made on meaning rather than on translation.
How do I say before doing something?: Avant de plus the infinitive, when the subject is the same in both halves: avant de sortir, avant d'appeler, avant de me coucher. Avant on its own cannot introduce a verb.
Why does avant que take the subjunctive?: Because the second event has not happened at the point the first one occurs, so it is still unrealised. Je partirai avant qu'il arrive uses the subjunctive arrive for exactly that reason, and this is one of the most reliable subjunctive triggers in French.
What is the ne in avant qu'il ne parte?: It is the ne explétif, a stylistic leftover with no negative meaning at all. Avant qu'il ne parte and avant qu'il parte mean the same thing; the first is simply more careful or more literary.
Can devant ever mean before?: In the sense of in the presence of, yes: devant la loi, devant témoins, devant une telle réaction. English before survives in those same phrases, which is why they feel familiar. For anything to do with time, French needs avant.