Skip to content

"in front of" in seven languages

Meaningin front of

Spanish

delante de

/deˈlante de/

other source · Latin DĒ + IN + ANTE 'from in front'

Also enfrente de, 'facing', from frente (FRONTEM) like the English.

French

devant

/dəvɑ̃/

inherited

DĒ + avant (AB ANTE).

Italian

davanti a

/daˈvanti a/

inherited

da + avanti (AB ANTE).

Portuguese

na frente de

/nɐ ˈfɾẽtʃi dʒi/

other source · Latin FRONTEM 'forehead, front'

Diante de (DĒ IN ANTE) is more formal.

Romanian

în fața

/ɨn ˈfatsa/

other source · Romanian față 'face' (Latin *FACIA, for FACIĒS)

Followed by the genitive: în fața casei.

Catalan

davant de

/dəˈban də/

inherited

English

in front of

/ɪn ˈfɹʌnt əv/

other source · front from Old French front, Latin FRONTEM 'forehead'

English → Italianin front ofdavanti aNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: advance, advantage (from AB ANTE via French avant).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

AB ANTE (with DĒ)‘from before’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

All three stacked prepositions onto ANTE 'before': French and Italian on AB ANTE, Spanish on IN ANTE. English chose the forehead, front, from FRONTEM.

English relatives: advance, advantage (from AB ANTE via French avant)

Learn it

Practice the Little words deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esHay un parque delante de mi casa.
  • frIl y a un parc devant chez moi.
  • itC'è un parco davanti a casa mia.
  • ptTem um parque na frente da minha casa.
  • roÎn fața casei mele e un parc.
  • caHi ha un parc davant de casa meva.
  • enThere is a park in front of my house.

More in Little words

All Little words words