Defronte, à frente de, à frente, em frente

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?

2 Likes

@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)
5 Likes

Oi Joseph, p.f. não me levas a mal, parece que ‘tás a usar a versão brasileira da palavra “facto” :wink:

“Perante os fatos, não restam dúvidas / Diante dos fatos, não restam dúvidas (Before these facts, no doubts remain)”

Obg, é facto para Portugal :slight_smile: