"en face" v. "d'en face"

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Permalink Reply by Davenne Marc on June 21, 2013 at 3:11pm

en face de .. : in front of

d'en face : from accross literaly

La maison d'en face : the opposite house

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on June 21, 2013 at 5:33pm

my confusion stems from my belief that there are times "en face" (without "de" after) is used rather than "d'en face."  Also, anything in front of me is opposite me.             

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on June 22, 2013 at 3:23am

My interpretation of what Davenne wrote above is:

La maison est en face = The house is opposite (as in 'across' the way)

La maison d'en face est blanche = the house opposite (or the house across the way) is white.

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Permalink Reply by Davenne Marc on June 24, 2013 at 3:20pm

There was a british 1917 movie named "The house opposite". Is there a difference with "The opposite house" ?

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on June 24, 2013 at 4:48pm

there's no difference in meaning and it wouldn't sound wrong if you used the latter, but the former is what most people will use.  

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Permalink Reply by Davenne Marc on June 24, 2013 at 5:23pm

well in French you cannot always use one for the other.See that example :

- où est la maison ?

- en face (d'en face is wrong here) 

- de quelle maison me parlez-vous ?

- de celle d'en face (en face is alright )

So I would say:  

 - use 'd'en face' with the noun : la maison d'en face, le gars d'en face... (using en face is not so wrong, we could use it when we talk but it does not mean it is correct)

 - after the verb change for 'en face' : il est en face, la maison est en face, je vais en face,

 -  use 'en face' when it is said alone to express the point, the location like in the example above.

 - finally use 'en face' when it has the meaning of 'in front of' : regardais le soleil en face

everydody agrees ?

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