In the front of

Dear teachers,

I found this sentence in an exercise, is it correct to say "In the front of" or should it be "At the front of" ?

In the front of the garage, a young chauffeur in shiny black leggingswas dusting a maroon convertible.

Thank you in advance.
Hela

hela said:

Dear teachers,

I found this sentence in an exercise, is it correct to say "In the front of" or should it be "At the front of" ?

In the front of the garage, a young chauffeur in shiny black leggingswas dusting a maroon convertible.

Thank you in advance.
Hela

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If he was inside the garage near the front, "In the front" is correct.

If he was outside the garage, then "In front of the garage" would be appropriate.
"At the front of the garage" is a little ambiguous.

emsr2d2 said:

If he was outside the garage, then "In front of the garage" would be appropriate.
"At the front of the garage" is a little ambiguous.

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That interests me. I 've hardly heard 'AT the front of something'; could you explain why the phrase can have more than one meaning?

nelson13 said:

That interests me. I 've hardly heard 'AT the front of something'; could you explain why the phrase can have more than one meaning?

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There are 270 entries for "at the front of" in the BNC and 1,036 in COCA. It's a very common construction. It's ambiguous in the context of the OP's question because it doesn't make clear whether the person is inside or outside.