Passer- 'by' or 'in front of'? aimer - love or like?

Question

Bit of clarification please:-

- Isn't 'I pass by the new coffee shop' better translated by 'passe par' ? The exercise on Passer gives -Passer par / devant ... (to pass by / in front of...)

- does not 'J'aime' mean 'I love' and wouldn't 'J'aime bien 'I like' be better in this instance? (the excercise on Aimer says 'Note that when using aimer bien, it actually lessens its meaning from 'to love' to 'to like' [someone] / [something].'

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Barrie,
1. In French, 'to pass by' means 'passer devant'. 'Passer par' means 'to go through [somewhere]'.

Je passe par le magasin = I pass by the shop
Je passe par le centre-ville = I go through the city centre

2. Generally 'aimer' on its own is used to express 'I love [sb]' and, also, 'to love / to like [sth]' as per the lesson content: "Used on its own, aimer generally means 'to love'  and 'to love or to like' (depending on intensity) ".
'aimer bien' would be translated by 'to really like' most of the time 
J'aime bien ce livre = I really like this book
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !