摘要：The car in front suddenly stopped and I slammed on the brakes. （前面的车突然停了下来，我猛踩刹车。）[剑桥高级学者辞典]

in front是介词短语，含义为“处于比某人/某物更远的位置，但不太远, 特别是靠近建筑物的门口”，如

【例句1】Their house is the one with the big garden in front. (他们的房子是前面有大花园的那个。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句2】The car in front suddenly stopped and I slammed on the brakes. （前面的车突然停了下来，我猛踩刹车。）[剑桥高级学者辞典]

【例句3】 He drove straight into the car in front. （他径直开进前方的车里。）[朗文当代英语词典]

上面三个例句中的in front在名词后面修饰它。

in front也引申为“在竞赛/竞争中处于优势/领先位置”[在英式英语用得多]，如

【例句4】The blue team is currently in front with a lead of six points. (蓝队目前领先六分。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句5】By half time the Italians were well in front. （半场结束时，意大利人遥遥领先。）[剑桥高级学者辞典]

【例句6】 His goal put Leeds back in front. (他的进球使利兹队再次领先。) [朗文当代英语词典]

in front在1610s就使用了，in back现在尚不流行，主要在美式英语中使用，含义为“某物后部，尤其是车或建筑物”，如

【例句7】There's room for three people in back. (后面有三个人的空间。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句8】Catlett got behind the wheel and I sat in back. （卡特利特坐在方向盘后面，我坐在后面。）[剑桥高级学者辞典]

【例句9】Kids should always wear seat belts, even in back. (孩子们应该一直系安全带，即使在后面。)[朗文当代英语词典]

in back之所以不流行(英式英语应尽量避免)，原因可能有二。一是，back可以指动物后背，而front只是位置关系。

二是， front肯定指“前”，但非直立动物(如狗、鳄鱼、马陆)等等，其back也不是在后方。

来源：汽车老友团