Where are you from?
Woher asks about origin. Kommst is the du form of kommen.
FREE BEGINNER LESSON 5 · GERMAN
German: Where are you from?
Ask where someone is from and say where you live.
Informal · getting acquainted. Learn the meaning, listen to the pronunciation, then practise in the interactive lesson.
Practise this lessonOpening vocabulary referenceUseful German phrases and their meanings
I am from England.
Aus means from. Use this pattern with many country names without an article.
Where do you live?
Wo asks about a place. Wohnst is the du form of wohnen.
I live in Berlin.
In introduces the town here. Replace Berlin with your own town.
How the sentence works
Kommen aus expresses where someone is from: ich komme aus England. Wohnen in describes where you live: ich wohne in Berlin. Wo means where; woher means from where. Many country names, including England and Deutschland, usually have no article in these expressions.
A short conversation in German
Where are you from?
I am from England. And you?
I am from Germany. I live in Berlin.
Words to recognise
from where
where
England
Germany
Listen to the whole phrase before focusing on each word. You can replay as often as you like, and the interactive lesson uses pictures and a short exchange to put the meaning in context.
Open the interactive lessonThe opening six teaching lessons are free, including the mini-tests after lessons three and six. A test accepts any answer and shows the score and corrections at the end. No typing or speaking aloud is required.
Keep learning German
Free five-minute audio lesson and MP3 · Language learning games
The pronunciation uses prepared synthetic voices. Credits and licences explain the free voice models. Independent native-speaker certification is not claimed.