Learn Spanish (Latin America): Vivimos en el este de la ciudad.

Vivimos en el este de la ciudad.

We live in the east of the city.

Breakdown of Vivimos en el este de la ciudad.

from / of

vivir

to live / to be constantly (doing something)

in / on / at

la ciudad

the city

Questions & Answers about Vivimos en el este de la ciudad.

If I wanted to ask someone where they live to get this answer, which question word would I use?

You would use dónde. The question could be ¿Dónde viven? (Where do you live?). Because this sentence uses en to talk about a fixed location (in the east), we use dónde (where), rather than adónde (to where) or de dónde (from where).

Doesn't este mean "this"?

It does, but it is also the word for the compass direction "east"! When you see it used with the word el right before it (el este), it means "the east". When it is used right before a masculine noun (like este carro), it means "this" (this car).

Why isn't there a word for "we" at the beginning of the sentence?

In Spanish, the ending of the verb tells you who is doing the action. The -imos ending in vivimos already means "we live". You can add nosotros at the beginning for emphasis, but it is usually left out.

Why is it de la ciudad instead of just saying something like "la este ciudad"?

English often puts direction words right next to nouns (like "the east city" or "the east side"). In Spanish, it is much more common to use de (of) to link them, literally saying "the east of the city" (el este de la ciudad).