En face de
Example: Le café est en face de la bibliothèque principale.
Definition
"En face de" is a French preposition phrase meaning directly opposite or facing something, often used to indicate the exact location of one object relative to another. For example, in "Le café est en face de la bibliothèque principale," it specifies that the café is located directly across from the main library.
Etymology
The phrase "en face de" comes from French, where "en face" means 'in front' or 'facing,' and "de" means 'of' or 'from.' Originally, "face" derives from the Latin "facies," meaning 'face' or 'appearance.' Did you know? The idea of "face" in many languages metaphorically extends to mean 'surface' or 'front,' which perfectly fits the phrase "en face de" to indicate positioning.
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"En face de" appears in the Vocaplus list "French - General - (A2) - set 1", containing 125 commonly used words.
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