Ik kom van de supermarkt vandaan.

I

Breakdown of Ik kom van de supermarkt vandaan.

• van: from
• komen: to come
• de supermarkt: the supermarket

Questions & Answers about Ik kom van de supermarkt vandaan.

Why does this sentence use van and vandaan together?

In Dutch, to express “coming from” a place you use the fixed pattern van X vandaan. The first van links to the specific place (de supermarkt), and vandaan signals movement away from it. Omitting one part breaks the pattern: • Ik kom van de supermarkt sounds incomplete.
• Ik kom vandaan is too vague—you need van + place to specify the origin.

Can I say Ik kom uit de supermarkt instead?

Yes. uit also means “out of” or “from.”
• Ik kom uit de supermarkt is perfectly correct and more concise.
• Both van … vandaan and uit … vandaan work, but in practice uit … alone is very common.

What does vandaan mean on its own?

By itself, vandaan means “away from here” or “from” in a general sense. For example:
• Waar kom je vandaan? – “Where do you come from?”
• Ik kom vandaan. – “I come from (here),” though you normally specify the place afterward.

Why is there a de before supermarkt?