Portuguese · Greetings & Essentials

"Where are you from?" in Portuguese: De onde você é?

De onde você é?

Say it: jee ONG-jee VOH-seh ehphrase/ˈde ˈõ.dʒi vo.ˈse ˈɛ/

Where are you from? in Portuguese is De onde você é? Answer with Eu sou de… plus city or country. De onde você vem? also appears.

Language exchange

De onde você é? Eu não reconheço o sotaque.
Where are you from? I don’t recognize the accent.
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How to pronounce De onde você é?

Say it

jee ONG-jee VOH-seh eh

/ˈde ˈõ.dʒi vo.ˈse ˈɛ/

jee ONG-jee VOH-seh eh

"Where are you from?" in Portuguese: quick reference

PortugueseEnglish
De onde você é?Where are you from?

Default question.

De onde você vem?Where do you come from?

Alternate.

Você é de onde?You’re from where?

Word order swap.

Eu sou de…I’m from…

Answer pattern.

How to use De onde você é? in real life

  1. 1Language exchange

    De onde você é? Eu não reconheço o sotaque.

    Where are you from? I don’t recognize the accent.

    Intro.

  2. 2Hostel kitchen

    Antes de tudo: de onde você é?

    First of all: where are you from?

    Travel chat.

  3. 3Work icebreaker

    De onde você é originalmente?

    Where are you from originally?

    Background.

Mistakes English speakers make with De onde você é?

Incorrect: Where are you from? (only English)

Correct: De onde você é?

Use the full Portuguese question.

Incorrect: De onde tu és? (in Brazil with strangers)

Correct: De onde você é?

Brazilian default is você, not tu.

Good to know

De onde você é? opens chats from beaches to coworking desks. People often answer with city plus state. Follow-ups jump to food and football faster than politics.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Meeting at a Meetup

  1. ChatPal

    De onde você é?

    Where are you from?

  2. You

    Eu sou de Recife. E você, de onde você é?

    I’m from Recife. And you, where are you from?

  3. ChatPal

    Sou de Curitiba. Legal te conhecer.

    I’m from Curitiba. Nice to meet you.

  4. You

    Igualmente. Primeira vez aqui?

    Same. First time here?

This is a sample. In ChatPal you have this conversation out loud and get feedback on what you say.

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"Where are you from?" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Where are you from?" in Portuguese

Exact phrase?

De onde você é?

Alternate?

De onde você vem? / Você é de onde?

How to answer?

Eu sou de + place.

Use tu?

Prefer você in most of Brazil.

Learn a word, then use it out loud

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  3. Step 3: Get feedback
  4. Step 4: Use it in real scenarios

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