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Teo Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Behind/in back of/at the back of

What's the difference in meaning between "behind" "in back of" and "at the back of"?
Thank you very much for your reply.
  

Top answer

I don't feel any difference among the following three. 1) the parking lot behind the church 2) the parking lot at the back of the church 3) the parking lot in back of the church But it's my personal opinion. Let's wait for teachers' answers.

— Paco2004

  • I don't feel any difference among the following three.
  • 1) the parking lot behind the church 2) the parking lot at the back of the church 3) the parking lot in back of the church But it's my personal opinion.
  • Let's wait for teachers' answers.
  • paco
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22 Answers
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I don't feel any difference among the following three.
1) the parking lot behind the church
2) the parking lot at the back of the church
3) the parking lot in back of the church
But it's my personal opinion. Let's wait for teachers' answers.

paco
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They are nearly synonymous in many situations, and yet they are not truly synonyms.

"in back of" is a sort of intermediate form which can be forced to serve as either "behind" or "at the back of".

Katherine stood at the back of the room.
?Katherine stood in back of the room.
*Katherine stood behind the room.
She stood behind the wall.
*She stood in back of
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1i00We caught them hiding 01b00in back of02b00 the house.02i02br
02br
00The sentence is taken from a dictionaqry, so there is no context.02br
02br
00Which does 01i00in back of 02i00mean here, 01i00behind 02i00or 01i00in the back of02i00?0-
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0 Without context, I would take it as "behind the house". A house has several rooms; which one constitutes the back one is a difficult decision. "in back of the room" or "in back of the closet" are more easily understood as "in the back part of the ..."02br
00 CJ0-
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0Teo,02br
02br
00 Of the nearly 20,000 google hits for 'in back of the house', most should mean 'somewhere outside, behind the house'.02br
02br
00'In 01i00the02i00 back of the house' will most likely mean 'somewhere 01i00inside02i00 the house at its rear'.0-
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0Hi,02br
02br
00I see 01i00in back of02i00 as a feature of AmE rather than BrE.02br
02br
00Clive0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Clive12cite10 10I see 11i10in back of12i10 as a feature of AmE rather than BrE.12blockquote
10You are right. OED says "in back (noun) of X" in AmE is the same as "back (adverb) of X" in BrE.02br
02br
00paco 0-
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1i00We sat back of the bus. 02i02br
02br
00Is the above sentence acceptable?0-
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0Hi,02br
02br
01i01font00We sat back of the bus. 02font02i02br
02br
01font00Is the above sentence acceptable?02font02br
02br
01font00Not if you mean you were in the bus. Say 01font00We sat at t
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0back of = behind02br
02br
00in back of = behind or in/at the back of02br
02br
00Am I right?0-
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