Table of Contents
Talking about where you are from
In this chapter you learn how to say where you are from and how to ask others about their origin. You will meet very common question patterns and the basic country names you need in first conversations.
The key question: “Where are you from?”
In everyday conversation, the most typical question is:
German: „Woher kommst du?“
Meaning: “Where are you from?”
This is informal, used with friends, classmates, or people your age.
For a polite or formal situation, for example with a teacher or in an office, you use “Sie”:
German: „Woher kommen Sie?“
Meaning: “Where are you from, sir / madam?”
Pattern to remember:
Informal: Woher kommst du?
Formal: Woher kommen Sie?
“Woher” means “from where” and is the standard word in this question about origin.
Answering with “kommen aus”
To answer, you use the verb “kommen” (to come) together with the preposition “aus” (from, out of).
The basic pattern is:
Ich komme aus + country.
Example: Ich komme aus Deutschland.
“I am from Germany.”
Here are more examples:
Ich komme aus Spanien.
Ich komme aus Brasilien.
Ich komme aus China.
Ich komme aus Ägypten.
In all these sentences, “ich” is “I” and “komme” is the first person singular of “kommen”.
You can also answer very short in casual conversation:
Aus Deutschland.
Aus Italien.
This is less complete, but very natural when the question is clear from context.
Using “kommen” with different persons
You already saw how “kommen” changes with “ich” and “du” in these questions and answers. Here you need the forms that appear in this topic:
| German | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich komme | I come / I am from | Ich komme aus Deutschland. |
| du kommst | you come (informal) | Woher kommst du? |
| Sie kommen | you come (formal) | Woher kommen Sie? |
You will learn the full present tense of verbs in another chapter. Here focus on recognizing “komme”, “kommst”, and “kommen” in these fixed questions and answers.
Asking “Where do you come from?” in a more general way
Sometimes you also hear a slightly different question:
„Wo kommst du her?“
„Wo kommen Sie her?“
These also mean “Where are you from?” in a general sense. In everyday small talk, “Woher kommst du?” is more common and a bit easier, so you can focus on that.
Compare:
| German | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Woher kommst du? | Where are you from? |
| Wo kommst du her? | Where do you come from? (also origin) |
For now, use “Woher kommst du?” as your main question.
Saying where you are from in a longer way
You can add more information and combine origin with where you live now. You will learn the full structure of these sentences later, but here are useful ready-made patterns:
Ich komme aus Deutschland, aber ich lebe in Spanien.
“I am from Germany, but I live in Spain.”
Ich komme aus Mexiko, ich wohne jetzt in Berlin.
“I am from Mexico, I live in Berlin now.”
Ich komme aus der Schweiz, ich studiere in München.
“I am from Switzerland, I study in Munich.”
You can simply replace the country and the city to talk about yourself.
Useful country names in German
Many country names are very similar to English, but the spelling and pronunciation can change. Here are some common ones for first conversations.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Deutschland | Germany |
| Österreich | Austria |
| die Schweiz | Switzerland |
| Frankreich | France |
| Italien | Italy |
| Spanien | Spain |
| Portugal | Portugal |
| Griechenland | Greece |
| Großbritannien | Great Britain |
| die USA | the USA |
| Kanada | Canada |
| Mexiko | Mexico |
| Brasilien | Brazil |
| Argentinien | Argentina |
| China | China |
| Japan | Japan |
| Indien | India |
| Russland | Russia |
| die Türkei | Turkey |
| Ägypten | Egypt |
| Australien | Australia |
In this chapter, you do not need the grammatical gender of these countries yet. You only use them after “aus”.
Ich komme aus Italien.
Ich komme aus China.
For some countries, later you will learn special forms with articles, but at A1 and for this topic, “Ich komme aus + country” is enough.
Short dialogues about where you are from
Here are simple model dialogues you can copy and change with your own information.
Dialogue 1, informal:
Person A: Woher kommst du?
Person B: Ich komme aus Italien. Und du?
Person A: Ich komme aus Deutschland.
Dialogue 2, formal:
Person A: Guten Tag. Woher kommen Sie?
Person B: Guten Tag. Ich komme aus Brasilien.
Dialogue 3, adding where you live:
Person A: Hallo, ich bin Anna. Woher kommst du?
Person B: Ich komme aus Polen, aber ich wohne in Wien.
Just change the names and countries to make your own small conversations.
New vocabulary
| German | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| woher | from where | Question word for origin |
| kommen | to come | Infinitive form |
| ich komme | I come / I am from | Ich komme aus Spanien. |
| du kommst | you come (informal singular) | Woher kommst du? |
| Sie kommen | you come (formal singular/plural) | Woher kommen Sie? |
| aus | from, out of | Ich komme aus Deutschland. |
| Woher kommst du? | Where are you from? (informal) | |
| Woher kommen Sie? | Where are you from? (formal) | |
| Wo kommst du her? | Where do you come from? (informal) | Variant of the question |
| Wo kommen Sie her? | Where do you come from? (formal) | Variant of the question |
| Deutschland | Germany | Country |
| Österreich | Austria | Country |
| die Schweiz | Switzerland | Country, later important with article |
| Frankreich | France | Country |
| Italien | Italy | Country |
| Spanien | Spain | Country |
| Portugal | Portugal | Country |
| Griechenland | Greece | Country |
| Großbritannien | Great Britain | Country |
| die USA | the USA | Often used in plural form in German |
| Kanada | Canada | Country |
| Mexiko | Mexico | Country |
| Brasilien | Brazil | Country |
| Argentinien | Argentina | Country |
| China | China | Country |
| Japan | Japan | Country |
| Indien | India | Country |
| Russland | Russia | Country |
| die Türkei | Turkey | Country |
| Ägypten | Egypt | Country |
| Australien | Australia | Country |
| leben | to live | Ich lebe in Berlin. |
| wohnen | to live, to reside | Ich wohne in Wien. |
| jetzt | now | Ich wohne jetzt in Berlin. |
| aber | but | Ich komme aus Rom, aber ich wohne hier. |