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目前 (mokuzen) Japanese meaning: right before one's eyes | Kotomora
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He didn't notice the danger right in front of him.
Usage patterns 〈 事こと 〉 が 目もく 前ぜん に 迫せま る for something to be imminent, closing in
The exam is right around the corner.
〈 事こと 〉 を 目もく 前ぜん にして with ~ imminent; right before ~
He's nervous with the wedding just ahead.
目もく 前ぜん の 〈 事こと 〉 the immediate ~ at hand
I focus on the task right in front of me.
〈 事こと 〉 を 目もく 前ぜん に 控ひか える to have ~ coming up imminently
Graduation is just ahead of me.
Related words· 6 目の前 is the everyday, concrete way to say something is physically right in front of you, while 目前 is more formal and often used for abstract or temporal imminence.
眼前 is a highly literary, formal synonym for 目前, favored in narrative or descriptive writing about a scene unfolding right before one's eyes.
間近 stresses that a point in time is drawing very close, whereas 目前 can describe either a physical or temporal closeness with a stronger sense of confrontation.
直前 pinpoints the moment immediately preceding a specific event, while 目前 more broadly signals that something looming is close at hand.
Show 2 more 目前 is the more literal 'right in front of one's eyes,' often for physical proximity or imminent events, while 目の当たり stresses the act of directly witnessing or experiencing something.
目前 can mean both spatially 'right before one's eyes' and temporally 'imminent', while 寸前 is used mainly for the temporal sense of imminence.
Don't confuse with 目下 (もっか) means 'at present, currently' and shares the 目 kanji with 目前, but it refers to the current state of affairs, not physical or temporal imminence.
目前 (もくぜん) shares the same kanji as 目先 but is a different, more common reading meaning 'imminent' or 'right before one,' so the two should not be confused.
Etymology Sino-Japanese compound of 目 (eye) and 前 (front), literally 'before the eyes'.
