Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
How to ask people where they come from, and say where you come from.
Key to abbreviations: inf = informal, frm = formal, m = male (said by males), f = female (said by females)
| Language | Where are you from? | I come from ... |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Waarvandaan kom jy? (inf) Waarvandaan kom U? (frm) |
Ek kom van ... af |
| Albanian | Nga jeni? (frm) Nga je? (inf) | Unë jam nga ... |
| Arabic (Egyptian) |
(Inta/inti minayn?) إنت منين؟ | أنا من ... (Ana min ...) |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
من أين أنت؟ (f. min ayn anti / m. min ayn anta?) |
أنا من ... (Anā min ...) |
| Armenian (Eastern) |
Որտեղի՞ց ես: (Vorteghits es?) - inf Որտեղի՞ց եք: (Vorteghits ek?) - frm |
Ես ...ից եմ: (Yes …-ic em) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Ուրկէ՞ ես: (Oorge es?) inf որտեղէն է՞ք (Vordeghen ek?) frm |
Ես ...էն եմ: (Yes ...en em) |
| Azerbaijani | Haralısan? (inf) Haralısınız? (frm) | ... deyil |
| Basque | Nongoa zara? | ... ko/go naiz |
| Bengali | আপনি কোথা থেকে আসছেন (apni kotha theke ashchhen?) |
আমি ... থেকে আসছি (ami ... theke ashchhi) |
| Breton | Eus pelecʼh emaocʼh? | Deus ... on |
| Bulgarian | От къде сте? (Ot kãde ste) frm От къде си? (Ot kãde si) inf |
Аз съм от ... (Az sãm ot ...) |
| Catalan | D'on ets? (inf) D'on és vostè? (frm) | Sóc de..., Vinc de ... |
| Chamorro | Taotao månu hao? | Taotao ... yo' |
| Chechen | мичара ву хьо ? (m) мичара ю хьо ? (f) мичара ду шу? (pl) |
Co ... ву/ю Тхо ... ду |
| Chinese (Mandarin) |
你是從那裡來的？
[你是从哪儿来的] (nǐ shì cóng nǎli/nǎr lái de) 你是哪國人？ [你是哪国人] (nǐ shì nǎguórén) |
我是從 ... 來的 (wǒ shì cóng ... lái de) 我是 ... 人 (wǒ shì ... rén) |
| Chinese (Cantonese) |
你係邊國人呀？ (néih haih bīn gwokyàhn a) | 我係 ... 人 (ngóh haih ... yàhn) |
| Croatian | Odakle si? (inf) Odakle ste? (frm) | Ja sam iz ... |
| Czech | Odkud jste? | Jsem z ... |
| Dalecarlian | Hvar kumb þú ... frâ? | Ig kumb frâ ... |
| Danish | Hvor er du fra? Hvor kommer du fra? |
Jeg er fra ... Jeg kommer fra ... |
| Dutch | Waar kom je vandaan? (inf) Waar komt u vandaan? (frm) | Ik kom uit ... |
| Esperanto | De kie vi estas? | Mi estas de ... |
| Estonian | Kust te pärit olete? Kust te tulete? | Mina olen ... |
| Faroese | Hvaðani kemur tú? (inf) Hvaðan ert tú? (inf) Hvaðani koma tygum? (frm) Hvaðan eru tygum? (frm) |
Eg komi úr ... Eg eri úr ... |
| Fijian | O ni lako mai vei? O kemuni mai vei? | Au lako mai ... |
| Finnish | Mistä olet kotoisin? | Olen kotoisin ...esta |
| French | D'où êtes-vous ?
(frm) D'où venez-vous ? (frm) Tu viens d'où ? (inf) Tu es d'où ? (inf) |
Je viens de ...
Je suis de ... |
| Frisian (North) | Weer kamst dü jurt? | Ik kam foon ... |
| Frisian (West) | Wêr komst wei? | Ik kom fan ... |
| Firulian | Di dulà sêstu? | O ven de ... |
| Georgian | საიდან ბრძანდებით? (saidan brdzandebith?) - frm საიდან ხართ? (saidan kharth?) - frm საიდან ხარ? (saidan khar?) - inf |
მე ვარ ... (me var ...) |
| German | Woher kommst du? (inf) Woher kommen Sie? (frm) |
Ich komme aus ... |
| Greek | Από πού είστε; (Apó pu íste?) – frm Από πού κατάγεστε; (Apó pu katágeste?) – frm Από πού είσαι; (Apó pu íse?) – inf Από πού κατάγεσαι; (apó pu katágese?) – inf |
Είμαι από... (íme apó…) Κατάγομαι από... (katágome apó…) |
| Greenlandic | Suminngaaneerpit? | ...minngaaneerpunga |
| Hausa | Daga ina ka fito? | Na fito daga ... |
| Hawaiian | No hea mai ʻoe? | No ... mai au |
| Hebrew | m - (meayin ata)
מאין אתה? f - (meayin at) מאין את? m - (mi-eyfo ata) מאיפה אתה? f - (mi-eyfo at) מאיפה את? |
(Mi...) אני(מ) ... |
| Hindi | आप कहाँ से हैं?
(Āp kahāṁ se haiṁ) - frm तुम कहाँ से हो? (Tum kahāṁ se ho?) - inf |
मैं ... से हूँ (Maiṁ ... se hūṁ) |
| Hungarian | Hová valósi Ön? | Én ...ból/ből vagyok |
| Icelandic | Hvaðan ertu? Hvaðan kemur þú? | Ég er frá ... |
| Indonesian | Anda berasal dari mana? | Saya dari ... |
| Iñupiaq | Nakinngaaqpin / Suminngaaqpin? | ...nngaaqpunga |
| Inuktitut | ᓱᒥᙶᖅᐱᑦ (Huminngaaqpin) ᓇᑭᙶᖅᐱᑦ (Nakinngaaqpit) |
...ᙶᖅᐳᖓ (...nngaaqpunga) |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Cá as duit? (Munster) Cárb as duit? (Ulster) Cé as thú? (Connacht) |
Is as ... dom Is as ... mé |
| Italian | Da dove vieni? Di dove sei? (inf) Da dove viene? Di dov'è? (frm) |
Vengo da ... Sono di ... |
| Japanese | どこからですか (Doko kara desu ka?) どちらからですか (Dochira kara desu ka?) - frm |
私は ... からです (watashi wa ... kara desu) |
| Kazakh | Қай жердікісіз (Qay jerdikisiz?) | Мен ... (Men ...) |
| Korean | 어디서 오셨어요? (Eodiseo osyeosseoyo) |
저는 ... 에서 왔어요 (Jeoneun ... eseo wasseuyo) |
| Krio | Usai yu kohmot? | A kohmot ... |
| Lao | ເຈົ້າມາແຕ່ໃສ? (jâo máa tae sai?) | ຂ້ອຍຊື່ ... (kháwy seu ...) |
| Latvian | No kurienes jūs esat? | Es esmu no ... |
| Lithuanian | Iš kur jūs? Iš kur tu esi? | Aš ... |
| Luxembourgish | Vun wou kennst de? (inf) Vun wou kommt der? (frm) |
Ech si vun ... Ech komme vun... |
| Macedonian | Од каде си?
(Od kade si?) - inf Од каде сте? (Od kade ste?) - frm |
Јас сум од
(Yas sum od ...) |
| Malagasy | Avy aiza ianao? | Avy any ... |
| Malay | Dari mana asal saudara? (frm) Asal dari mana? (inf) | Saya dari ... |
| Maltese | Minn fejn int? | Jien minn ... |
| Manx | Cre voish t'ou? | Ta mee çheet voish ... |
| Māori | Nō hea koe? | Nō ... ahau |
| Nepali | तपाईंको/तिम्रो नाम के हो? (tapaaiiko/timro naam ke ho?) |
मेरो नाम ... हो (mero naam ... ho) |
| Norwegian (Bokmål) |
तपाईकी घर काहाँ हो? (tapaaiikii ghara kaaham ho?) |
मेरो घर ... हो (mero ghara ... ho) |
| Norwegian (Nynorsk) |
Kvar kjem du frå? Kvar er du frå? |
Eg kjem frå ... Eg er frå ... |
| Occitan | D'ont siás? D'ont sètz? | Soi de ... |
| Persian | (shoma ahleh koja hastid?) شما اهل کجا هستيد؟ (ahle kojayee?) اهل کجايي؟ |
من از ... هستم (man az ... hastam) |
| Polish | Skąd jesteś? (inf) Skąd Pan(i) jest? (frm) | Pochodzę z ... |
| Portuguese (European) |
De onde vens? (inf) De onde vem? (frm) De onde és? (inf) De onde é? (frm) |
Venho de ... Sou de ... |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) |
De onde você/o senhor/a senhora vem? (frm) De onde você é? (inf) De onde o senhor/a senhora é? (frm) |
Venho de ... Sou de ... |
| Romanian | De unde sunteţi? | Eu sunt din ... |
| Russian | Oткуда вы?
(Otkuda vy) - frm Oткуда ты? (Otkuda ty) - inf |
Я из ... (Ja iz ...) |
| Scots | Whaur d'ye come frae? | A come frae ... A'm frae ... |
| Scottish Gaelic | Co às a tha thu/sibh? | 'Sann à ... a tha mi Tha mi à ... |
| Serbian | Одакле си? (Odakle si?) - inf Одакле сте? (Odakle ste?) - |
Ја сам из ... (Ja sam iz ...) |
| Sesotho | O tswa kae? | Ke tswa ... |
| Shona | Unobva kupi? (sg) Munobva kupi?? (pl) | Ndinobva ku... |
| Sicilian | Di unni veni? | Vengu di ... |
| Slovak | Odkialʼ si/ste? | Som z ... |
| Slovenian | Od kod ste? (frm/pl) Od kod si? (inf) | Sem iz ... |
| Spanish | ¿De dónde eres? (inf) ¿De dónde es usted? (frm) | Soy de ... |
| Swahili | Unatoka wapi? | Natoka ... |
| Swedish | Varifrån kommer du? | Jag kommer från ... Jag är från ... |
| Tagalog | Taga saan po sila? (frm) Taga saan ka? (inf) |
Taga ... ako |
| Thai | คุณมาจากทีไหน? (khun maa jaak tee nai?) | ผมมาจาก ... (phõm maa jaak ...) m ดิฉันมาจาก ... (dìichãn maa jaak ...) f |
| Tongan | Ko ho'o ha'u mei fe? | Ko 'eku ha'u mei ... |
| Tsez | Назай ми неххо? (Nazay mi nexxo?) |
Ди ... āзай неххо (Di ... āzay nexxo) |
| Tswana | Ko gae ke kae? | Ke tswa ko ... |
| Turkish | Nerelisin? (inf) Nerelisiniz? (frm) | ...lıyım /
...liyim ...den / ..dan |
| Ukrainian | Звідки ви? (Zvidky vy?) | Я з ... (Ja z ...) |
| Urdu | آپکا تعلق
کہاں سے ہے؟ (āp ka tāluq kahan se hai?) |
میراتعلق ... سے ہے (merā tāluq ... se hai) |
| Uzbek | Siz qay yerdansiz? | Men ... |
| Venetian | Da indove viento? | |
| Vietnamese | Ông từ đâu đến? | Tôi đến từ... |
| Welsh | O ble wyt ti'n dod? (inf) O ble ydych chi'n dod? (frm) |
Dw i'n dod o ... |
| Wolof | Fan nga joge? | Maangi joge ... |
| Yiddish | (Fun vanent kumstu?) פֿון וואַנענט קומסטו? | (Ikh bin funem ...) איך בין פֿונעם ... |
| Xhosa | Uvela phi? | Ndivela e... |
| Yorùbá | Nibo ni o ti wa? | Mo wa lati ... |
| Zulu | Uphumaphi? Uvelaphi? | Ngiphuma e ... / Ngivela e ... |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
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of any of these phrases, please send them to
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