Enfrentarse a VS enfrentarse con, same thing?

Question

Es la primera vez que te enfrentas con un reactor / Es la primera vez que te enfrentas a un reactor...... Same thing? Or is it "a" with people, and "con" with inanimate objects? Gracias...

For me... those are interchangeable... but lets better wait for one of the site's erudites... - Tonyriva, Nov 4, 2010

Answer 1

lorenzo, expanding on what Billstpor said, you have to look up the word "enfrentar":

enfrentar.

1. tr. afrontar (? poner frente a frente). U. t. c. prnl.

2. tr. afrontar (? hacer frente al enemigo). U. t. c. prnl.

3. tr. afrontar (? hacer cara a un peligro). U. t. c. prnl.

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All those "U. t. c. prnl." mean that the verb is also used as "enfrentarse".

Answer 2

Well, they are interchangeable yes, but in practice 'enfrentar(se) a' is a lot more common than 'enfrentar(se) con'.

Answer 3

Various dictionaries say they are interchangeable. The D R A E says enfrentarse isn't a word.

My mistake. - lorenzo9, Nov 4, 2010

The DRAE doesn't list pronominal verbs as words 'on their own'. If you look up "enfrentar" you will see 'U. t. c. prnl.', which means 'also used as a pronominal verb' - bill1111, Nov 4, 2010