Nós somos de Lisboa, e vocês são de onde?

Questions & Answers about Nós somos de Lisboa, e vocês são de onde?

Why do we use somos and são here instead of estamos and estão?
Both verbs mean "to be", but we use the verb ser (here as somos for "we", and são for "you" plural) to talk about permanent things like someone's origin or hometown.
Why does vocês use são, which is the "they" form of the verb?
In Portuguese, vocês means "you" (plural), but it is always treated grammatically like a third-person word. It shares the same verb form as eles and elas (they). So, eles são means "they are", and vocês são means "you all are".
Why is the question word at the very end (vocês são de onde)?
In English, we usually pull question words to the front of the sentence. In Portuguese, leaving the question word at the end of the sentence is very common and sounds completely natural in everyday speech. You could also put it at the start by saying de onde são vocês, but keeping it at the end is short and easy!
Does the word de ever combine with onde?
The preposition de (from) often merges with other words, like "the" or "him". When placed in front of onde (where), it is perfectly fine to leave them as two separate words. You might sometimes see or hear them combined as donde, but de onde is standard, correct, and very safe to use.

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