Breakdown of O café fica em frente do banco.
o café
the café
o banco
the bank
em frente de
in front of
ficar
to be located (of places)
Questions & Answers about O café fica em frente do banco.
Why does the sentence use fica instead of está or é for "is"?
Where does the word do come from in em frente do?
The phrase for "in front of" is em frente de. When the preposition de (of) meets the masculine word for "the" (o), they combine into the contraction do. So, de + o banco becomes do banco (of the bank).
Could em frente ao be used instead of em frente do?
Yes, you might hear both! Both em frente de and em frente a are correct and common ways to say "in front of" in European Portuguese. This sentence uses de + o (do), but using a + o (ao) would also be perfectly fine.
Can banco mean both a financial bank and a park bench?