My lord!!! so, an other one of my favorites. Are there any rules as to when to use what form of “in front of” or are they all just interchangeble?
@andy_vander_vlist, à frente and em frente are the most typical choices. They’re interchangeable when they refer to being in front of something; just note that they are each usually followed by a different preposition:
- Estou à frente da loja. = Estou em frente à loja. (I’m in front of the store)
There are some specificities when using these terms in the sense of ahead. If ahead refers to a forward movement, rather than a position, the appropriate choice is em frente. If it refers to a leading position, the appropriate choice is à frente:
- Vai em frente (Go ahead) → forward movement
- Estou à tua frente na corrida (I’m ahead of you in the race) → relative leading position
- Estou à frente na corrida / Estou na frente da corrida (I’m ahead in the race) → absolute leading position; na frente de is an extra possibility here.
Defronte/diante/perante are all less common, more sophisticated choices to express the same thing. But in subjective contexts, diante and perante are the main options (defronte is not used). For example:
- Perante os factos, não restam dúvidas / Diante dos factos, não restam dúvidas (Before these facts, no doubts remain)[edit]
Pela frente is not really used in the same way as em frente/à frente. Some examples of its use:
- Tens a tua vida toda pela frente. (You have your whole life ahead of you)
- Por favor, saiam pela frente. (Please exit by the front)
Oi Joseph, p.f. não me levas a mal, parece que ‘tás a usar a versão brasileira da palavra “facto”
“Perante os fatos, não restam dúvidas / Diante dos fatos, não restam dúvidas (Before these facts, no doubts remain)”
Obg, é facto para Portugal