对面(duì miàn) - opposite, across from in Mandarin

对面 (duì miàn) pairs 对 (duì, "facing, towards") with 面 (miàn, "side, face"), and together they mean "opposite" or "across from" - the spot directly facing wherever you are standing. It works as a place word tacked onto the end of a noun phrase: 银行对面 (yínháng duì miàn), "opposite the bank", with no preposition needed in between.

English speakers often reach for "in front of" first, but 前面 (qiánmiàn) is "in front of" (the same side, ahead of you) while 对面 (duì miàn) is specifically "across from" (the far side, facing you) - a road, a table, a street all separate the two things it links. 马路对面 (mǎlù duì miàn), "across the road", is the classic example.

对面 (duì miàn) also stands alone as a shorthand noun meaning "the other side" or "the person facing you": 对面的人 (duì miàn de rén), "the person opposite". Don't confuse it with the verb 面对 (miàn duì, "to face, to confront"), which reverses the same two characters into a different meaning entirely - facing a problem, not facing a building.