Gegenüber

Gegenüber is a German term with several related meanings centered on the idea of facing or being opposite something or someone. It can function as a preposition, as an adverbial expression, or as a noun.

As a preposition, gegenüber means “opposite” or “across from” and governs the dative case. Common examples include Der Park liegt gegenüber dem Rathaus (The park lies opposite the town hall) and Unser Büro liegt gegenüber dem Bahnhof (Our office is across from the train station). The phrase can also appear in the form dem Rathaus gegenüber, where the preposition follows the noun.

In phrases with people, gegenüber can be used adverbially to express facing each other. For instance, Wir stehen uns gegenüber means “We are facing each other.” When used with pronouns, the pronoun is in the dative: mir gegenüber, dir gegenüber, ihm gegenüber, and so on (e.g., Er war mir gegenüber höflich).

As a noun, Gegenüber is capitalized as das Gegenüber and means “the other person” or “the counterpart” in a dialogue or interaction. It refers to the person or party one is interacting with, especially in conversations, negotiations, or debates. Example: Man sollte dem Gegenüber aufmerksam zuhören.

Etymology and usage context: Gegenüber is a compound built from gegen (against, toward) and über (over, across), originally conveying the idea of being opposite or facing something. In modern German, it is used in both spatial contexts (physical positioning) and social contexts (interaction with another person).

See also: Gegenstand, Gegenseite, gegenüberstehen.