Where Is He/She From in Spanish? | Polite Ways To Ask

To ask origin, say “¿De dónde es?” or “¿De dónde eres?” and match usted/tú plus gendered pronouns when needed.

You hear Spanish around you, you want to keep the chat going, and the next thing you want to ask is where someone’s from. It’s a simple question, but Spanish gives you a few clean options depending on who you’re speaking to. Get the wording right, and you’ll sound natural, not textbook-stiff.

This article gives you the go-to questions, the matching answers, and the small grammar choices that trip people up: tú vs. usted, singular vs. plural, and when to write dónde with an accent. You’ll finish with ready-to-say lines you can use in real conversations.

Where someone is from in Spanish for real conversations

The core idea is “from where” in Spanish: de + dónde. Spanish uses different verb forms depending on whether you’re talking to the person or about the person.

Asking a person directly

If you’re speaking to one person and you’re on friendly terms, use ¿De dónde eres? (“Where are you from?”). If the setting calls for more distance, use ¿De dónde es usted? (“Where are you from?” with a formal tone).

Two quick notes. First, Spanish often drops the pronoun, so ¿De dónde es? can mean “Where are you from?” in a formal setting when the context makes usted clear. Second, “are” in English splits into eres (tú) and es (usted).

Asking about someone else

When you’re asking about a third person, the same es form works: ¿De dónde es él? and ¿De dónde es ella? both mean “Where is he/she from?” The pronoun is optional, so you can also say ¿De dónde es? if everyone knows who you mean.

Asking about more than one person

For a group, switch to plural: ¿De dónde son? (“Where are they from?”). If you’re speaking to several people directly, you’ll hear ¿De dónde son ustedes? in many regions. In Spain, you may hear ¿De dónde sois? with vosotros.

Choosing tú or usted without awkwardness

Picking between tú and usted is less about grammar and more about the relationship and the setting. A safe default with strangers is usted. With peers in casual settings, tú is common. Many places lean toward tú in day-to-day talk, yet usted still fits in customer service, formal introductions, and some workplace contexts.

If you want a quick check from a reliable grammar source, the Real Academia Española’s summary of tú y usted lays out the broad contrast between familiar and respectful forms.

A simple way to stay on the safe side

• Start with ¿De dónde es? when meeting an older adult, a client, or a staff member you don’t know.
• Switch to ¿De dónde eres? after they speak to you with tú, or when the vibe is clearly casual.
• If you’re unsure, pair the question with a polite opener like Perdón or Disculpe and keep your tone friendly.

Answers that sound natural

Answers usually start with ser (“to be”) or a short phrase with de. You can keep it short, then add details if the other person stays interested.

Short answers

• Soy de Dhaka. (“I’m from Dhaka.”)
• Es de México. (“He/She is from Mexico.”)
• Somos de Canadá. (“We’re from Canada.”)
• Son de Argentina. (“They’re from Argentina.”)

Answers with a bit more detail

• Soy de Bangladesh, de la capital. (“I’m from Bangladesh, from the capital.”)
• Soy de cerca de Chittagong. (“I’m from near Chittagong.”)
• Es de Valencia, en España. (“He/She is from Valencia, in Spain.”)

If you’d like to skip the verb, you can answer with just the place: De Bangladesh. In many chats, that’s enough.

Writing “donde” vs “dónde” right

This is one of those details that makes your Spanish look clean. When it’s a question or an exclamation, it takes an accent: dónde. When it works like “where” in a statement, it usually drops the accent: donde.

The Real Academia Española explains this split in the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas entry for “dónde”, and also spells out the broader rule under tilde diacrítica on interrogatives.

In speech, you won’t “hear” the accent mark, yet you will hear the stress. In writing, the accent tells the reader you’re asking a question, even inside a longer sentence.

Quick contrast

• ¿Dónde vives? (question → accent)
• No sé dónde vives. (embedded question → accent)
• Vivo donde trabajo. (relative “where” → no accent)

If you want a second explanation that stays close to everyday usage, FundéuRAE has a clear note on cuándo se escriben con tilde “cómo”, “cuándo” y “dónde”.

Common question forms you’ll hear

People don’t always ask the full “Where are you from?” line. In Spanish, you’ll hear a few nearby questions that mean almost the same thing, or that narrow the answer.

Asking for a country, region, or city

• ¿De dónde eres? (general origin)
• ¿De qué país eres? (country)
• ¿De qué ciudad eres? (city)
• ¿De qué parte eres? (which part / area)

Asking where someone lives now

• ¿Dónde vives? (where do you live?)
• ¿Dónde estás viviendo ahora? (where are you living now?)

That last pair is handy when the person was born in one place but lives somewhere else now. It keeps the chat smooth without pushing for personal details.

Conversation-ready scripts

Below are short scripts you can memorize. Keep them light. If the other person gives a short answer, you can stop there. If they add detail, you can follow their lead.

Friendly, one-on-one

Tú: ¿De dónde eres?
Ellos: Soy de Chile.
Tú: Ah, qué bien. ¿De qué ciudad?

More formal, one-on-one

Usted: Disculpe, ¿de dónde es?
Ellos: Soy de Perú.
Usted: Gracias. ¿De Lima?

Talking about someone else

Tú: ¿De dónde es ella?
Ellos: Es de Colombia.
Tú: ¿De Bogotá?

Notice how Spanish often repeats de in follow-up questions. That repetition sounds normal in Spanish.

Table of go-to phrases and when to use them

This table puts the main options in one place, so you can pick the right line fast.

Situation	What to say in Spanish	When it fits
Casual, speaking to one person	¿De dónde eres?	Friends, classmates, peers
Polite, speaking to one person	¿De dónde es? / ¿De dónde es usted?	Strangers, clients, formal intros
Asking about a man	¿De dónde es él?	When you mean “he” and want clarity
Asking about a woman	¿De dónde es ella?	When you mean “she” and want clarity
Asking about a group	¿De dónde son?	Two or more people
Asking for a city	¿De qué ciudad eres?	When you want a tighter answer
Asking where someone lives now	¿Dónde vives? / ¿Dónde estás viviendo ahora?	Current home, not birthplace
Short answer	Soy de … / Es de … / Somos de …	Quick replies that sound natural
Short answer without a verb	De …	Fast, casual chats

Small grammar choices that make you sound fluent

You don’t need fancy Spanish to sound smooth. A few small habits do a lot of work.

Drop the subject when it’s clear

Spanish doesn’t need “I” or “you” in every sentence. So you’ll hear ¿De dónde eres? and Soy de… without extra pronouns. You can still add yo, él, or ella when you want emphasis or clarity.

Use “ser” for origin, not “estar”

Origin ties to identity, so Spanish uses ser: Soy de… not Estoy de…. For current location, use estar: Estoy en… (“I’m in…”).

Know the plural you’ll hear

In most of Latin America, ustedes is used for “you all,” so ¿De dónde son ustedes? is the direct plural. In Spain, many speakers use vosotros with ¿De dónde sois?. If you’re learning for travel, it’s fine to stick to ustedes; you’ll be understood.

Table of question-and-answer pairs by person

If conjugations still trip you up, this table maps each question to a matching answer.

Who you mean	Question	Answer pattern
You (tú)	¿De dónde eres?	Soy de …
You (usted)	¿De dónde es (usted)?	Soy de …
He	¿De dónde es (él)?	Es de …
She	¿De dónde es (ella)?	Es de …
We	¿De dónde son ustedes? / ¿De dónde somos?	Somos de …
They	¿De dónde son?	Son de …
You all (Spain, vosotros)	¿De dónde sois?	Somos de …

When this question can feel too personal

In many places, “Where are you from?” is normal small talk. Still, some people have reasons to keep their background private. You can keep things comfortable by letting them choose how specific to be.

Softening the question

• ¿Eres de aquí? (“Are you from around here?”)
• ¿De qué zona eres? (“What area are you from?”)
• ¿Dónde has vivido? (“Where have you lived?”)

These give room for answers like a city, a region, or a general “de aquí” without pressing for more.

Pronunciation tips that save you from repeats

Spanish listeners catch meaning fast, so a small pronunciation slip can lead to “¿Cómo?” and a restart. Two tips make this smoother.

Stress “dón-” in “dónde”

DÓN-de has the stress on the first syllable. Don’t swallow the de at the end. Keep it light, not dragged out.

Keep “de” short

De is a quick “deh,” not “day.” When you say de dónde, it flows as one unit: de-DÓN-de.

Putting it all together in one clean line

If you want one safe, flexible line to memorize, pick the form that matches your setting:

• ¿De dónde eres? for casual chats.
• Disculpe, ¿de dónde es? for polite settings.

From there, listen to how the other person speaks to you, then mirror their level of formality. Add one follow-up question only if the conversation stays warm. That’s it.