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Suddenly a lion emerge in between the trees. John runs back after sees the lion. The lion runs and jumps in front of John.

Suddenly a lion emerge in between the trees. John runs back after sees the lion. The lion runs and jumps to the front of John.

In both sentence what I mean by the last line is "John is running in the front. The lion chases him, and then the lion makes a jump and lands in front of John." Which one is correct? Why am I confused is I feel "jumps in front of John" gives wrong meaning like "it is jumping in front of him"?

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    This doesn't make sense. If John is running away from the lion, it can't appear in front of him anyway. Except by some really weird manoeuvre like jumping over his head as he ran, which frankly I doubt the most athletic lion is capable of doing over the smallest John.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 16, 2013 at 2:12
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    @FumbleFingers - I think what he means is that lion runs back so fast towards John, that once it is sure, it jumps and lands in front of him. Why isn't this possible especially in your hypothesis of the most athletic lion and the smallest John? ;)
    – Mohit
    Commented May 16, 2013 at 4:11
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    It is surely possible to jump in front of somebody that is running away: The person who is escaping can take a different path than the person who is trying to catch him, and the latter takes a shorter one. If I am able to predict where the person who is running away from me is going, I can do that.
    – avpaderno
    Commented May 16, 2013 at 6:16
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    Those lions can move (48kph), and jump: 3.7m vertical and 10.8m horizontal apparently - see 'Basic Facts'.
    – mcalex
    Commented May 16, 2013 at 8:32
  • @mcalex, kiamlaluno, Mohit: Okay, I guess I must accept that if you guys can visualise it, it makes sense to you. My own "theatre of the imagination" doesn't stretch that far yet. Mind you, I'm the kind of guy who has trouble watching Kill Bill because I keep thinking "Real people can't jump like that!"
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 16, 2013 at 13:10

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"In front of" means ahead of, whereas "to the front" refers to a place that is at the beginning.

Think of a class of children in two rows (of girls and boys), ordered alphabetically, and a teacher who is standing, facing the children. In this situation:

  • Alice and Alan are at the front of the line

  • The teacher is standing in front of the line

So, in your example, the more correct version is definitely the first. (Also note other minor corrections.)

Suddenly a lion emerges in between the trees. John runs back after he sees the lion. The lion runs and jumps in front of John.

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