Learn Spanish (Spain): Yo soy de España.

Yo soy de España.

I am from Spain.

Breakdown of Yo soy de España.

Questions & Answers about Yo soy de España.

The lesson talks about del. Why do we just use de in this sentence?

The word del is a mandatory contraction that happens when de (from/of) is immediately followed by el (the). Because countries like España usually don't use "the" in front of them, there is no el to combine with. So, we simply use de.

I always mix up the Spanish verbs for "to be". Why do we use soy here instead of estoy?

To talk about your origin—where you are from—you always use the verb ser (which becomes soy for "I am"). This is because your origin is a core, unchanging fact about you. You would use estar to talk about your current physical location, like if you were just visiting.

Do I have to include Yo at the beginning of the sentence?

No, you can just say Soy de España. Because the verb form soy only ever means "I am", the subject is already obvious. Spanish speakers often drop yo unless they want to emphasize that they are from Spain, as opposed to someone else.

Can I use soy de for cities, too?

Yes! The structure soy de + [Place] works for any place you are from. You can say Soy de Madrid or Soy de Londres using the exact same pattern.