Which one is correct?
The patterns swam before her eyes.
OR
The patterns swam in front of her eyes.
I know that "before" is mostly used when we talk about the time, but is it right to use "before" when we talk about space? I'm most interested in spoken usage.
Best Answer
Certainly. The ways in which prepositions are used in English - and probably in other languages - are numerous and often bewildering. I was about to add idiosyncratic, but there is probably a logical explanation behind even the most idiomatic usages, perhaps lost in time. Some grammarians have said that prepositions constitute a class of words both semantic and functional. Prepositional usages are sometimes graded:
central (locative, directional; temporal) (eg on the bed, to the park; before midnight)
semi-idiomatic (eg on the train, at a loss)
peripheral (eg on fire)
As you suggest, before has a locative sense, synonymous with the three-word (sometimes termed 'complex') preposition in front of. Using the word idiomatic in its other main sense now (in common use in the common register), in front of is the more idiomatic of the two choices - before sounds rather poetic, of a slightly refined register.