In a textbool for sixth form before is used as a synonyme for in front of. Is that really good English? I consider in front of as a preposition and before as an adverbial . What do you say?

As in, 'She sat before the judge awaiting her sentence.'? Meaning she was sitting in front of the judge, yes that is very normal.

"I see before me the gladiator lie" - Lord Byron. He oughta know

Quote from W.Shakespeare too...

Then again, I have seen some of his spelling...
:badgrin:

"Fore" means something to the front, as in "forehead"

Before does mean in front of as well, it's just that it is an archaic use of the word.

Ba wouldn't say it's archaic. It's less common in modern English, but it's still used with fair frequency. Fore is used much less often.

Normally, of course, people simply say "in front of." But they have no poetry in their souls.

Yes, you are right, and I'm too. There are two different words in Swedish, "in front of me there is a computer" is translated framför, and "before the eyes of God" is inför, now I realize which error the textbook author made. I didn't even think about it that way. Thank you all for your inputs.