What it means
روبهرو (rubaru) means “opposite,” “facing,” “across from,” or “in front of.” It is a native Persian compound made up of رو (ru, face) plus به (be, to/toward) plus رو (ru, face again), giving the sense of “face to face” or “turned toward.” It describes spatial position (the shop opposite you) and direct confrontation (facing a problem). A common formal or written synonym is مقابل (moqabel), borrowed from Arabic, which carries the same positional meaning but sounds more official in speech.
How to use it
- بانک روبهروی پارکه. (Bank rubaru-ye parke.) “The bank is across from the park.”
- نشست روبهروم و نگام کرد. (Neshast rubarum o negam kard.) “He sat facing me and looked at me.”
- داروخونه روبهروی اون ساختمون بلنده. (Darukhune rubaru-ye oon sakhtemon blandeh.) “The pharmacy is opposite that tall building.”
- باید با این مشکل روبهرو بشیم. (Bayad ba in moshkel rubaru beshim.) “We need to face this problem.”
Cultural note
روبهرو شدن (rubaru shodan), meaning “to come face to face with” or “to encounter,” is the standard phrase for confronting difficulties or people in Persian. It appears constantly in daily speech and in news headlines alike. In giving directions on Iranian streets, روبهرو is the default word for pointing out a location across the road, often paired with a gesture. The Arabic-origin equivalent مقابل (moqabel) tends to appear in more formal written contexts, such as legal documents or journalism.