# To face



## ThomasK

I have recently realized that 'to face' has quite some meanings (like facing problems, facing the truth, facing the audience, and some more if you go into details). Do you have such a verb based on the noun 'a face'. 

At least we don't in Dutch. We have to use expressions like : 
- _onder ogen zien _(to see under the eyes, lit.)
- _geconfronteerd worden met _(be confronted with - though this might not be too good as a translation)
- _vrezen voor _(fear, which is of course an interpretation)
There might be something that refers to that sense: _het hoofd bieden aan _(offer the head to, lit.), when referring to opposing, resisting...


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## 810senior

We use verbs including the meaning of face, similar to the usage of a verb face in English.

直面する chokumen suru (choku=directly, men=face, suru=to do lit. directly facing "something" meaning to confront the situation/fact/etc.) e.g. 厳しい現実に*直面する*(to *face *the rough reality)
面する men suru (men=face, suru=to do lit.to (do) face meaning to face, to bother on) e.g. 四方が海に*面する(*every side *faces *the sea)


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## ancalimon

Turkish:  yüzleşmek

yüz: face, hundred, to swim, to skin (I'm not saying all these are related... just writing them down  )

ThomasK, it has all of the meanings you mentioned.


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## ThomasK

That one word (root) _yüz _has all those meanings, you mean... And the verb has the meaning of the English 'to face'?


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## ger4

I can't think of any German verbs derived from 'face'... 

The only expressions that might be (remotely) similar to the ones you mentioned in the OP are based on the preposition _angesichts_ (originally the genitive of _Angesicht_ = _Gesicht_ = 'face') such as _angesichts der Krise _- 'in the face of / In view of / considering the crisis'

'We have to face the facts' could be translated as _Wir müssen die Fakten akzeptieren..._


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## Gavril

Welsh has a couple of verbs derived from _wyneb_ "face": 

*wynebu* "to face, to look towards (something)"
*gwrthwynebu* (formed with the prefix _gwrth_- "against") "to resist, oppose"

[NB -- the letter "w" in Welsh is pronounced  before a consonant, so _gwrth_- = [gurθ].]


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## ThomasK

Holger2014 said:


> The only expressions that might be (remotely) similar to the ones you mentioned in the OP are based on the preposition *angesichts *(originally the genitive of _Angesicht_ = _Gesicht_ = 'face') such as _angesichts der Krise _- 'in the face of / In view of / considering the crisis'


I had thought of: _die Stirn bieten_... _Stirn _(forehead, I believe) is a part of the face...


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## apmoy70

Ιn Greek:


*«Eκπροσωπώ»* [ekprosoˈpo] --> _to represent_ < compound; prefix, adverb and preposition *«ἐκ/ἐξ» ĕκ* (before consonant)*/ĕks* (before vowel) --> _out_ (PIE *h₁eǵʰ-s-, _out_ cf Lat. ex) + Classical neut. noun «πρόσωπον» prósōpŏn --> _face_
*«Αντιπροσωπεύω»* [andiprosoˈpevo] --> _to stand for, appear for, typify, represent_ < compound; prefix and preposition *«ἀντί» ăntí* --> _opposite, over against, instead of_ (PIE *h₂ent-, _front, face_ cf Skt. अन्ति (ánti), _in the presence of, facing_; Lat. ante > It. avanti, Sp./Por. ante, Fr. avant, Rom. înainte) + Classical neut. noun «πρόσωπον» prósōpŏn --> _face_


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## WestFevalia

In Breton we have:
*rentañ penn da*.
*talañ douzh*.
Both means _to face_ (_penn _means head and _tal_, forehead).


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## ger4

ThomasK said:


> I had thought of: _die Stirn bieten_... _Stirn _(forehead, I believe) is a part of the face...


I had thought of that expression as well but wasn't quite sure if the forehead still 'counts' as part of the face; somehow it's different - we don't use 'the rest' of our face when we _jemandem die Stirn bieten_ (~ 'to make head against someone' could be a possible translation) - the expression always make me think of bulls fighting...


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## ThomasK

You're quite right, but I think at least it can be considered part of the face, and therefore I'd add it. I think expressions do not refer to the face strictly speaking but to the whole or to the parts. In other words: conceptually/... I'd consider them linked...


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## mataripis

Tagalog has _​harapin. To face the situation- harapin ang pangyayari._


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## 123xyz

Macedonian:

*се соочува/соочи* - to face, confront (it can be used in all of the examples you have provided, ThomasK)

This verb is derived from the root "око" (eye) and the prefix "со-" (with, con-), so it's not based on "face". I wouldn't say we have any verbs based on "face" in general. However, we do have verbs based on the _root _on which the word for face (лице) is based, namely "лик" (I'm not sure what this root means, or rather what it meant in Old Slavic, but as an independent word in Macedonian, it means "character" or "countenance, appearance"), and some of them would be the following:

*слика* - to paint, photograph (whence also "отсликува/отслика", meaning "to portray", and "пресликува/преслика", meaning "to reflect, portray")
*личи* - to resemble (whence also "наликува", with the same meaning, and "разликува", meaning "to differentiate, distinguish")
*ликува* - to gloat, rejoice

There are more, especially in the scope of derivatives, but none of these have anything to do with confrontation.

P.S. The verbs are given as aspect pairs, where applicable


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## ancalimon

ThomasK said:


> That one word (root) _yüz _has all those meanings, you mean... And the verb has the meaning of the English 'to face'?



Yes. The Turkish verb "yüzleşmek" has all of the meanings of "to face".

The root is "yüz" meaning "face".
The suffix "*eş" (which also means "couple, identical, spouse, equal" in noun form) turns the noun into a verb and it also implies that the action is being carried out between two people or objects.


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## Encolpius

Czech -- čelit [from the word čelo *forehead*]
Hungarian -- szembenéz, szembesül, szembeszáll [szem - *eye*, but the word szembe means "opposite]


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## Armas

Hello, in Finnish we have only slang expressions olla naamat/lärvit = "to be faces" means to be drunk, vetää/ottaa naamat/lärvit = "to pull/take faces" means to get drunk, lärvätä = to get drunk. We say "to have forehead" means to be insolent, impudent (this is not a slang expression). From the standard word for face, kasvot, no verbs unfortunately.


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## ThomasK

But how about confronting someone, Armas, or facing problems? How do you translate that ?



Encolpius said:


> Czech -- čelit [from the word čelo *forehead*]
> Hungarian -- szembenéz, szembesül, szembeszáll [szem - *eye*, but the word szembe means "opposite]


Could you use them in a sentence, Encolpius?


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## Armas

ThomasK said:


> But how about confronting someone, Armas, or facing problems? How do you translate that ?




Kohdata ongelmia = to encounter/meet problems (to have problems), and with total object kohdata ongelmat = to encounter/meet the problems (to try dealing with the problems).


Confronting someone is tricky. In most cases it is better to use a verb with more exact meaning. E.g. _We should confront him about the missing money_ (example from the Wiktionary), perhaps kuulustella häntä rahoista = question him about the money.


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## bibax

Czech:

face: *obličej* (prefix ob- + líce = cheek < *likъ), *tvář*, vulg. *ksicht*;

verbs:

**likъ*: *líčiti* (lit. to give a face to sth) = 1) to describe, to depict 2) to make sb up 3) to whitewash;

*líce* (cheek): *zalíciti* = to level the rifle; (zalícit! zamířit! pal! = level the rifle! aim the rifle! fire!)

*tvář*: *tvářiti se* (reflexive) = lit. to make a face/faces, to make an expression on one's face;
1) Tvářil se smutně. → He looked sad. He had a sad expression on his face.
2) Tvářil se, jako by se nic nestalo. → He pretended nothing had happened.

Vulg. *ksicht* (sorry Holger): *ksichtit se* = tvářiti se;
Blbě se ksichtil, tak jsem mu upravil ksicht. = He made idiotic "Gesichts", so I rearranged ("modified") his "Gesicht".

to face problems = čeliti problémům (čelo = forehead);
Čelíme vážným problémům. = We are facing serious problems (, Houston).

to face truth = dívati se pravdě do očí (lit. to look into the truth's eyes);


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## Encolpius

szembenéz 

Ha szembenézünk ezekkel a félelmekkel, néha semmivé válnak. 
When we fear these fears they sometimes turn into nothing.


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## ger4

bibax said:


> [...] *ksicht *[...]


That's precisely how it's pronounced in Bavaria...


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## Dymn

In *Catalan* and in *Spanish* these verbs are formed from 'forehead' (_front/frente_) and 'face' (_cara_).

Catalan: _encarar, afrontar, fer front_
Spanish: _encarar, afrontar, enfrentarse, hacer frente_


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## Outsider

It's the same in Portuguese: *to face* is _encarar_, from _cara_ (face), and a synonym is _enfrentar_ from _frente_ (*front*).


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## ThomasK

But does it mean 'to be confronted with' or 'go against something', 'resist', or both?


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## Outsider

Mostly the latter. As for the former, the closest the meaning comes to in Portuguese is "to  encounter/meet problems (to have problems)" as in Finnish or Czech.


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