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Discover the French phrase "D'où viens-tu"

Get prepared to discover everything you need to know about the basic French sentence "D'où viens-tu ?". Including a detailed explanation of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. And that's not all, we also added super useful stuff like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!


French to English translation

  • Translation : Where are you from?

  • Register : Formal - Basic

Pronunciation guide

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / du vjɛ̃-ty ? /

aesthetic french quote ou viens tu

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D'où viens-tu meaning

Definition

The literal meaning is:

This is the classic and neutral way to ask someone: "Where are you from?" in French, but you can also use "Tu viens d'où ?".

The informal version is "T'es d'où ?" and the formal version is "Vous êtes d'où ?" (this version also works when talking to a group of people).

How to use

If someone asks you: "D'où viens-tu ?" you can answer with "Je viens du Brésil, et toi ?" (I'm from Brazil, and you?)

Or you can simply start by asking: "Tu viens d'où ?".

Note that the precise meaning can depend on context. If French people meet each other, this question means "Which city/region are you from in France?" but when one of the people isn't French it will mean "Which country are you from?".

Plus, this question can sometimes be painful when you are born somewhere, but grew up somewhere else and are even currently living somewhere else...

In this case, you have to decide which one represents you the most. And if you don't know, you can always say: "Je suis un citoyen du monde !" (I'm a citizen of the world!)

Funny stuff

The informal version "T'es d'où ?" sounds exactly like "T'es doux ?" which means "Are you sweet/gentle?". So don't be surprised if sometimes French people are having fun, answering you "Oui" with a smile.

Synonyms / Related

↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓

Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.

La nouvelle collègue

The new colleague

MarcBonjour ! Je m'appelle Marc.
Hello! My name is Marc.
NinaBonjour ! Je m'appelle Nina. Ravi de te rencontrer Marc.
Hello! My name is Nina. Nice to meet you Marc.
MarcRavi de te rencontrer aussi. Tu es une nouvelle employée ?
Nice to meet you too. Are you a new employee?
NinaOui, j'ai commencé à travailler ici hier.
Yes, I started working here yesterday.
MarcJe vois. D'où viens-tu ?
I see. Where do you come from?
NinaJe viens du Royaume-Uni. Je suis venue ici pour un stage.
I'm from the United Kingdom. I came here for an internship.
MarcOh vraiment ? De quelle ville viens-tu ?
Oh really? Which city are you from?

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