¿De dónde viene ese ruido?

that

Breakdown of ¿De dónde viene ese ruido?

• el ruido: the noise
• venir: to come
• de dónde: from where

Questions & Answers about ¿De dónde viene ese ruido?

Why does the sentence start with de dónde?

De dónde means from where. In Spanish, when you ask about the origin or source of something, you often use de dónde.

So:

• ¿De dónde viene ese ruido? = Where is that noise coming from?

Here, de means from, and dónde means where.

Why does dónde have an accent mark here?

It has an accent because dónde is being used in a direct question.

Compare:

• ¿Dónde está? = Where is it?
• No sé dónde está. = I don’t know where it is.

In questions and exclamations, Spanish normally uses the accented forms: qué, cómo, cuándo, dónde, quién, etc.

What form is viene?

Viene is the third person singular form of the verb venir (to come).

Present tense of venir:

• yo vengo = I come
• tú vienes = you come
• él/ella/usted viene = he/she/you come(s)

In this sentence, ese ruido is singular, so the verb is singular too:

• ese ruido viene

Literally, it is that noise comes / more naturally, that noise is coming.

Why is used instead of a verb meaning or ?