Juliemiracle,
In front of = спереди
In back of = позади, сзади
In the front of = в передней части
In the back of = в задней части
Подробнее:
In the front of and in the back of may appear without the, but there is a completely different meaning. Compare:
They have a vegetable garden in front of their house. (they have a vegetable garden outside the house in the front part)
Their living room is in the front of the house. (their living room is inside the front part of the house)
Note: If you say their vegetable garden is in the front of the house, it means the garden is inside the house.
Slow down; there's a police car in back of our car. (there' s a police car outside our car in the back)
We always keep a spare tire in the back of our car. (we always keep a spare tire inside the back part of our car)
ESL Grammar Handbook for Intermediate to Advanced Students of English as a Second Language by Allan Kent Dart p.8
Всё, что выше - это стандартное представление по вопросам разницы в значениях между
in front of and in the front of и
in back of and in the back of.
Но если поискать получше, то всё окажется несколько сложнее. Вот, что пишет CalifJim:
"We sat behind the bus" has us outside of the bus.
"We sat at the back of the bus" has us inside the bus.
"We sat in back of the bus" can be interpreted in either way.
https://www.englishforums.com/English/B ... v/post.htm
И вот как раз третий пример очень похож на ваш (и речь также о средстве передвижения).