engee30
Key Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2006
- Member Type
- Retired English Teacher
- Native Language
- Polish
- Home Country
- Poland
- Current Location
- England
I am not a teacher.
A man and his wife are drinking at a bar. The drunk next to them cuts loose a fart. Outraged, the man says to the drunk, "How dare you fart before my wife?" The drunk replies, "Shorry, buddy---*hic*---I didn't know it wazh her turn."
:lol:
Just as a reminder - the initial question was:
Why can't you use before in the below? Is "below" always for figurative places, never for concrete positions?
ex)There was a large crowd in front of(before) the City Hall.
In my opinion, we're not supposed to be talking about whether before is ambiguous or not, whether it is archaic or not, whether it's formal or not. There was no such question asked. But since we're actually doing this, it is true that it's archaic, ambiguous, and formal.
The question posed by the OP was straightforward, and the answer by me was the same. So if someone believes firmly that before cannot be used in that sentence and is not acceptable because before is ambiguous, archaic and formal, go ahead saying so - those reading such discussions will certainly draw a conclusion of their own.