“WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” IN ITALIAN: THE ONLY GUIDE YOU NEED
“Where are you from?” is one of the first things you get to answer when you meet new people.
In this lesson, I’ll tell you how to ask and reply to this question in Italian. You’ll also learn the name of most countries and nationalities in Italian, along with some other basic words. Ready for a new lesson? 🙂 let’s dive into it!
(A) How to Ask: “Where are you From?” in Italian
Imagine you’ve just met someone and you’ve already introduced yourself.
Now you wish to know something more about this person, so what do you ask? I bet “Where are you from?” is the first question crossing your mind. But how do you say it in Italian?
In Italian, there are two main ways to ask about someone’s origins. You can pick the one you prefer, but make sure you always address your speaker in the correct form (Formal or Informal).
Option 1: “Di dove sei?”
The first option you have for asking “where are you from?” in Italian is the following: “(Tu) di dove sei?“. (Note that “sei” is the second person singular of the verb “essere” that means to be). However, this is only for informal situations.
In a formal context, you need to replace the pronoun “tu” with “lei” and use the third person singular of the verb “essere”. So you’ll have to say: “(Lei) di dove è?“.
Remember that you can leave out the pronoun in Italian, that’s why it’s in brackets.
(Tu) di dove sei? / (Lei) di dove è?
Option 2: “Da dove vieni?”
Another way you can ask “Where are you from?” in Italian is by using the verb “venire” (to come). This is how you say it informally: “(Tu) da dove vieni?“, while in a formal situation, the same question becomes: “(Lei) da dove viene?“.
(Tu) da dove vieni? / (Lei) da dove viene?
(B) How to Answer “Where are you From?” in Italian
Now that you’ve asked the question, chances are they’ll want to know where you’re from as well. So let’s get ready to answer properly 🙂 You have a couple of options to reply:
Option 1: “Sono” + [Your Nationality/City]
If they asked you: “(tu) di dove sei?” or “(lei) di dov’è?“, the most natural way to answer is the following:
- (Io) sono + [Your Nationality]
- (Io) sono + di + [Your City]
Let’s see some examples:
- (Io) sono americano – I’m American
- (Io) sono italiana – I’m Italian
- (Io) sono inglese – I’m English
- (Io) sono di New York – I’m from New York
- (Io) sono di Roma – I’m from Rome
- (Io) sono di Londra – I’m from London
Note: the name of nationalities that in the masculine end in -no become -na in the feminine form; for instance: “americano”/”italiano” for men and “americana”/”italiana” for women. Other names (ending in -ese), instead, don’t change like for example “inglese”/”irlandese”.
Option 2: “Vengo” + da + [Your Country/City]
This second way to tell about your origin is generally in response to the question “(tu) da dove vieni?” or “(lei) da dove viene?“:
- (Io) vengo + da + article + [Your Country]
- (Io) vengo + da + [Your City]
These are some examples:
- (Io) vengo dagli Stati Uniti – I come from the USA
- (Io) vengo dall’Italia – I come from Italy
- (Io) vengo dall’Inghilterra – I come from the UK
- (Io) vengo da New York – I come from New York
- (Io) vengo da Roma – I come from Rome
- (Io) vengo da Londra – I come from London
Useful Italian Words
How to say “Country” & “Nationality” in Italian
Now that you know how to ask and answer “where are you from?“, you can learn some vocabulary on this topic.
“La nazione” is the Italian word for country and it’s feminine. In the plural form it becomes “le nazioni“. There are other words used with the same meaning as “la nazione”, like for example: “il paese” or “lo stato”. But for now, you can just remember: “la nazione”.
Then to refer to someone’s nationality in Italian, we use the term “la nazionalità” which is feminine. In the plural form, the name doesn’t change (but the article does). So you have to say: “le nazionalità”.
La Nazione / Le Nazioni
La Nazionalità / Le Nazionalità
The Italian Words for “Region”, “City” & “Town”
A country is usually made of regions and the Italian word is LA REGIONE (feminine). At the plural you need to say: LE REGIONI.
In a region there are many cities and towns. In Italian you refer to cities with the name: LA CITTA’ (feminine). The plural form of “la citta'” is the same (except for the article): LE CITTA’.
If it is a small town, though, you need to say IL PAESE that is masculine and at the plural it becomes: I PAESI.
LA REGIONE / LE REGIONI
LA CITTA' / LE CITTA'
IL PAESE / I PAESI
CONCLUSION
So just to recap, we’ve seen how to ask and answer the question “Where are you from?” in Italian.
You’ve learnt two questions you can use to know someone’s origins:
Q#1
Di dove sei? (Inf.) or Di dove e’? (Form.)
Q#2
Da dove vieni? (Inf.) or Da dove viene? (Form.)
We’ve also listed some useful words around this topic so make sure that you spend some time to learn them as well.
And now it’s your turn!
Answer the questions below in the comments:
1. Di dove sei?
2. Da dove vieni?