Spanish · Greetings & Essentials

"Where?" in Spanish: ¿dónde?

¿dónde?

Say it: DOHN-dehadverb/ˈdonde/

Where in Spanish is ¿dónde? (DOHN-deh). Keep the accent on dónde. Adónde asks where to when there is movement.

Finding a bathroom

¿Dónde está el baño?
Where is the bathroom?
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How to pronounce ¿dónde?

Say it

DOHN-deh

/ˈdonde/

DOHN-deh. Soft d taps lightly. Stress DOHN.

"Where?" in Spanish: quick reference

SpanishEnglish
¿dónde?where?

Location questions.

¿dónde está…?where is…?

Finding a place or person.

¿adónde vas?where are you going?

Movement toward a place.

¿de dónde eres?where are you from?

Origin question.

How to use ¿dónde? in real life

  1. 1Finding a bathroom

    ¿Dónde está el baño?

    Where is the bathroom?

    Classic traveler line with dónde.

  2. 2Meeting a friend

    ¿Dónde nos vemos?

    Where shall we meet?

    Dónde sets the meeting point.

  3. 3Lost on a street

    Disculpe, ¿dónde queda esta calle?

    Excuse me, where is this street?

    Queda pairs well with dónde.

Mistakes English speakers make with ¿dónde?

Incorrect: Donde está el banco? (no accent or ¿)

Correct: ¿Dónde está el banco?

Question dónde needs the accent and ¿ ? marks.

Incorrect: Where está el metro?

Correct: ¿Dónde está el metro?

Use dónde, not English where.

Good to know

On the street, pair ¿dónde? with disculpe. Use está with dónde for location now. Ser rarely replaces estar here.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Asking for the market

  1. ChatPal

    ¿Dónde quieres ir primero?

    Where do you want to go first?

  2. You

    Al mercado. ¿Dónde queda?

    To the market. Where is it?

  3. ChatPal

    Dos cuadras. ¿Dónde ves la farmacia roja?

    Two blocks. Where do you see the red pharmacy?

  4. You

    Ya la veo. Gracias.

    I see it now. Thanks.

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"Where?" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Where?" in Spanish

Why the accent on dónde?

Dónde asks where. Donde without accent links clauses.

Dónde or adónde?

Adónde adds direction: where to.

Is this formal?

¿Dónde? itself is neutral. Add usted forms for strangers.

How do I say where are you?

¿Dónde estás?

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