How You Say Where are you from? In French

Question

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Answer 1

"D'où venez-vous?" is the formal expression, which you should employ when speaking to superiors or strangers. But "D'où viens-tu?" is more informal, because "tu" is used. You can use this when you're speaking to friends or family.

Answer 2

You can say:

Polite way: Quelle est votre origine? Quelle est votre nationalite?, Quelles sont vos origines?, De quel pays etes vous?

to a friend you can just say: d'ou es-tu? t'es d'ou toi? 

Answer 3

To be polite to somebody you don't know yet  or   for respect : you have to say in French language : D'ou etes- vous ? = Where are you from ?,  never use (tu) that's only between friend or somebody you already   know.   

Answer 4

This is the best way. I would use the "tu" form since if you are asking the question, you're probably being friendly towards the other person.

 

D'où viens-tu?

Answer 5

This is how we say "Where are you from?" in French

--->"D'où viens tu?" or "D'où venez-vous" to sound more polite!

Answer 6

It depends.

In a casual discussion, you would generally use a declarative sentence with an interrogative tone (by raising your tone at the end of the sentence): Tu es d'où (?).

You wouldn't use the more convoluted (but grammatically correct) interrogative form: D'où est-ce que tu es/viens? or d'ou es-tu?

Answer 7

You might wish to clarify the entire question and answer if you indeed want to know from what country or town the person is, thus avoiding ambiguities: "De  quel pays/ville  êtes/venez-vous?"

And certainly, you should not presume permission to use "tu."

Answer 8

In a more classical and polite way, you can say: "Quelle est votre origine? Here you use "votre" which means "your" to address a stranger or superior and " ton" which also means "your" to address a well known person or a friend.

 

However, in a speaking language we don't want to sound too classical. Therefore, we can say: D'où êtes-vous? or D'où es-tu? Here we use "tu" or "vous" depending on how well known or superior the person is.

I prefer not to say: D'où viens-tu? or D'où venez-vous? Because in some other situation it simply means: Where were you?  which is completely different. But, it does work too.

Answer 9

Formal: When addressing a stranger, your superior or an elder person it is preferable to use the sentence " D'où venez-vous?" or you can also say " D'où êtes-vous?".

 

Informal: However, if you are addressing your equal or someone who has been speaking to you in an informal way, you can certainly say " D'où viens-tu?" or " Tu es d'où?".