Asking "From Where" with "d'où"
Combine où (where) and the preposition de (from) to ask "from where." Since où starts with a vowel, de becomes d'.
Pair d'où with the verb venir (to come) to ask about origins. It is typically placed at the beginning of the sentence:
| Where do you come from exactly? | D'où est-ce que vous venez exactement ? |
| Where does your family come from? | D'où vient votre famille ? |
In conversational French, d'où can also go at the end of the question:
| Where do these students come from? | Ces étudiants viennent d'où ? |
Countries and Nationalities
To answer, use venir de plus a location. Feminine countries drop their article (la or l') after venir de, and de becomes d' before a vowel:
| He comes from Germany, he is German. | Il vient d'Allemagne, il est allemand. |
| He comes from Italy, is that true? | Il vient d'Italie, c'est vrai ? |
You can also use adjectives or the noun la nationalité to describe origins. Unlike in English, nationality adjectives are not capitalized in French:
| She has German nationality. | Elle a la nationalité allemande. |
| What is your nationality? | Quelle est votre nationalité ? |
Borders, Origins, and the World
Here is more vocabulary for discussing international travel and origins:
| The train arrives at the border of Italy. | Le train arrive à la frontière de l'Italie. |
| It is a dog of German origin. | C'est un chien d'origine allemande. |
| Where in the world do you live? | Vous habitez où dans le monde ? |
| There are a lot of countries in the world. | Il y a beaucoup de pays dans le monde. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
