目前

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 目前 is read as もくぜん and is a noun for something immediately before one in space or very close in time.
• Basic usage: Use 山頂を目前にする for a nearby goal and 試験が目前に迫る for an approaching event.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Spatial and temporal senses
  • It can describe a physically close summit or a scheduled event whose time is imminent.
• Difference from 目の前
  • 目の前 is common in everyday spatial speech; 目前 also readily gives a formal sense of an approaching goal or deadline.