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French Expression
| Meaning | facing, across from, in regard to | |
| Literally | face to face | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[vee zah vee] |
| IPA | [vi za vi] | |
Usage notes: The French expression vis-à-vis has a few different meanings. Vis is the Old French word for visage (face), so literally, vis-à-vis is a prepositional phrase meaning “face to face.” However, for this usage it needs another word: vis-à-vis de.
Par exemple…
| Alignez-vous, les filles vis-à-vis des garçons. | Line up, girls facing boys. | |
| La boulangerie est à côte du pressing, vis-à-vis de la poste. | The bakery is next to the dry cleaner’s, across from the post office. |
Synonymous expressions
- de l’autre côté de
- en face de
- face à face de
Vis-à-vis de can also be used for comparisons.
Par exemple…
| Ma voiture est très petite vis-à-vis de la sienne. | My car is very small compared to his. | |
| C’est la moindre des choses vis-à-vis de tes soucis. | It’s nothing compared to / vis-a-vis your problems. |
Vis-à-vis or vis-a-vis (without de) has the same meaning in English.
Synonymous expressions
- en comparaison de
- en regard de
As a noun, vis-à-vis has two meanings:
1. Someone or something that faces someone/something else.
| À vendre : bâtiment sans vis-à-vis | For sale: building with open outlook (nothing across the street) | |
| Asseyez-vous en vis-à-vis. | Sit down facing one another. |
2. A meeting or encounter
| Il faut organiser un vis-à-vis pour la semaine prochaine. | We need to arrange a face-to-face meeting for next week. | |
| Pendant le vis-à-vis, nous avons décidé …. | During the meeting, we decided …. |
Synonyms
- un face-à-face
- un tête-à-tête
Related lessons
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