As an expression how would you write 32 times as large as y would it be 32 x y or y x 32

Either way is fine.  They are equal, and it doesn't matter
which way you write it.

Multiplication is a "commutative" operation.  That means
it doesn't make any difference which direction you work it out.

 Examples:

. . .  2 · 3  and  3 · 2  produce the same answer
. . .  5 · 10  and  10 · 5  produce the same answer
. . .  3 · 7  and  7 · 3  produce the same answer .

In fact, if  A  and  B  are ANY two numbers, then

       A · B  and  B · A  always produce the same answer.  For ANY numbers.