Where are you from in Germany auf Deutsch?

2.1 Where are you from?

Questions
1. You may have noticed that there are different words for "where" in German. "Woher" means "from where", whereas "wo" is the word which is used when no movement is involved. In subsequent chapters we shall also encounter "wohin" which means "to where":

2. Note the word order in German when a question is being asked. The question word comes first, followed by the verb and then the subject of the sentence. We have now met several examples of this:

• "Wie geht es Ihnen?" (= "How are you?")
• "Wie heißt du?" (= "What is your name?")
• "Wie ist Ihr Name?" ("What is your name?")
• "Woher kommst du?" ("Where do you come from?")
• "Wo wohnen Sie?" ("Where do you live?")
• "Wie schreibt man das?" (= "How do you write that?")
• "Wie buchstabiert man das?" (= "How do you spell that?")

Present tense of German verbs (2)
You will have noted that the verbs "wohnen" (= "to live") and "kommen" (= "to come") used above have the same endings as "heißen" in the previous chapter. To help you get used to a difficult part of German grammar, we will reproduce the present tense of these verbs in full below:

2. You may also have noted that the endings for the

"wir", "sie" (plural) and "Sie" forms are the same for all verbs. Helpfully, in regular verbs their verb form will be exactly the same as the infinitive.

Note however that the verb "kommen" is only a regular verb in the present tense. In the vast majority of other German tenses it is irregular and its various forms need to be learned off by heart!

Test yourself!
You can test yourself on the present tense of the verb "kommen" by clicking on the bar below:

Do you want to know where your German-speaking friends and colleagues come from? Talking about where you come from is a great way to get to know somebody new. It'll even help you discover more about different cultures and places.

Here we'll introduce you to different ways to learn where someone is from and to talk about your own origins in German. Have a look at the tables below and get ready for the next time you meet a German speaker!

• Learn Essential Phrases
  • Asking Someone Where They Come From
  • Telling Someone Where You Are From

• Practice the Phrases
  • Relax while Listening to the Phrases
  • Study Anytime & Anywhere with MP3s and PDFs
  • Practice & Record a Dialogue

Asking Someone Where They Come From

The questions we've collected for you here are essential when you want to know where someone is from. Have a look and try them out the next time you meet somebody new.

German	English
Woher bist du?	Where are you from?
Woher kommst du?	Where do you come from?
Wo wohnst du?	Where do you live?
Lebst du gerne in Deutschland?	Do you like living in Germany?
Wie lange lebst du schon in Luxemburg?	How long have you lived in Luxembourg?
Wie lange bist du schon in Österreich?	How long have you been in Austria?
Welche Staatsangehörigkeit hast du?	What nationality are you?
Was ist deine Heimatstadt?	What is your hometown?
Wo bist du aufgewachsen?	Where did you grow up?
Wo wurdest du geboren?	Where were you born?
Wo liegt Hamburg?	Where is Hamburg?
Bist du aus Deutschland?	Are you from Germany?
Welche Sprachen sprichst du?	What languages do you speak?
Was ist deine Erstsprache?	What is your first language?

Using this question or the question ⁠Woher kommst du? are the most common ways to find out where somebody is from. There's a lot of different ways someone could respond to this question. They could say the country, city, or even region they are from. For example: ⁠Ich bin aus Luxemburg.

Use this question to find out where someone's current home is. Again there are many different ways to respond to this question. You might say the country, town, street, or even the building that you are living in. Here is an example response: ⁠Ich wohne in Berlin in der Hauptstraße.

You can also find out where someone is from by asking what nationality they are. Use the question above to do this. To respond to this question, you need to simply state your nationality. So, for example, if your home country is Brazil, then your nationality would be Brasilianer or Brasilianerin, depending on your gender. So, a Brazilian male would say: ⁠Ich bin Brasilianer.

Your Heimatstadt could be several different things. Usually it is the town you were born and raised in, but it could also be the town where your family lives, where you went to school, or really any place that you'd call home. A response to this question might look something like this: ⁠Meine Heimatstadt ist Berlin.

Ask this question to find out what language somebody grew up speaking. You could ask the same thing by using the questions: ⁠Was ist deine Muttersprache? or ⁠Was ist deine Heimatsprache?. Answering these questions is simple! Just state the first language you grew up speaking, like this: ⁠Meine Erstsprache ist Deutsch.

Telling Someone Where You Are From

Just as you might be curious about where somebody is from, others will want to get to know more about you! Don't worry! The phrases below will help you talk about where you are from so that others can get to know you better.

Use the sentence pattern Ich komme aus + ORT to tell someone where you are from. Here is an example of this: ⁠Ich komme aus Japan. After telling someone where you are from, it's a good idea to ask where they are from: ⁠Woher kommst du?.

The easiest way to tell somebody where you live is to use the sentence pattern: Ich lebe in + ORT. For example: ⁠Ich lebe mit meiner Freundin in Berlin. Someone might respond to a sentence like this by saying: ⁠Lebst du gerne dort?.

Use the sentence pattern Ich lebe seit + ZEITSPANNE + hier to tell someone how long you have lived somewhere. Here is another example: ⁠Ich lebe seit einem Jahr in der Stadt. There are different ways somebody could respond to sentences like this. For example, a response to Ich lebe seit zwei Jahren hier could be ⁠Gefällt es dir hier?.

To tell someone where you grew up, use the sentence pattern Ich bin in + ORT + aufgewachsen. For example: ⁠Ich bin in Luxemburg aufgewachsen. Someone could respond to this is by asking: ⁠Wie war es dort?.

The sentence pattern Ich bin in + ORT + geboren can be used to tell someone where you were born. Here is another example of this: ⁠Ich wurde in einer Stadt in der Nähe von München geboren. Somebody could respond to a sentence like this by asking a question like: ⁠Wann bist du hierher gezogen?.

Relax while Listening to the Phrases

Keep calm and learn German! Listen to the phrases again with relaxing background music. This will help you improve your listening skills and remember the phrases. Choose your favorite style, then kick back and relax!

Relax with Meditative Music

Relax with the Sounds of Nature: River

Relax with the Sounds of Nature: Wind

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Study Anytime & Anywhere with MP3s and PDFs

Take your learning on the go with our free mp3 and pdf downloads! Whether you're on your way to work or enjoying a coffee break, any time can be filled with a short review. Enjoy and happy learning!

Practice & Record a Dialogue

Take the next step and use what you’ve learned! Check out this topic’s dialogue unit and practice the phrases in a variety of exercises. Test your knowledge and get ready for real life conversations!

Ich komme aus Österreich. Woher kommst du?en

Ich bin aus Hamburg. Wo wohnst du in Österreich?en

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important German phrases I should know for talking about where people are from?

• Woher bist du?

  Where are you from?

• Woher kommst du?

  Where do you come from?

• Wo wohnst du?

  Where do you live?

• Was ist deine Heimatstadt?

  What is your hometown?

• Ich komme aus Luxemburg.

  I'm from Luxembourg.

• Ich lebe in Deutschland.

  I live in Germany.

• Ich lebe seit zwei Jahren hier.

  I've been living here for two years.

• Ich bin in Österreich aufgewachsen.

  I grew up in Austria.

How do I tell someone where I am from?

Use the sentence pattern Ich komme aus + ORT to tell someone where you are from.

• Ich komme aus Luxemburg. (I'm from Luxembourg.)
• Ich komme aus Österreich. (I'm from Austria.)
• Ich komme aus Deutschland. (I'm from Germany.)

How do I tell someone where I live?

Use the sentence pattern Ich lebe in + ORT to tell someone where you currently live.

• Ich lebe in Deutschland. (I live in Germany.)
• Ich lebe in Berlin. (I live in Berlin.)
• Ich lebe in München. (I live in Munich.)

How do I tell someone how long I've been living somewhere?

To state the amount of time that you've spent living in one place, use the sentence pattern Ich lebe seit + ZEITSPANNE + hier

• Ich lebe seit zwei Jahren hier. (I've been living here for two years.)
• Ich lebe seit letztem Winter hier. (I've been living here for three months.)
• Ich lebe seit Jahren hier. (I've been living here for years.)

How do I tell someone where I grew up?

To tell someone where you grew up, use the sentence pattern Ich bin in + ORT + aufgewachsen.

• Ich bin in Österreich aufgewachsen. (I grew up in Austria.)
• Ich bin in Luxemburg aufgewachsen. (I grew up in Luxembourg.)
• Ich bin in Deutschland aufgewachsen. (I grew up in Germany.)

How do I tell somebody where I was born?

The sentence pattern Ich bin in + ORT + geboren can be used to tell someone where you were born.

• Ich bin in Österreich geboren. (I was born in Austria.)
• Ich bin in Luxemburg geboren. (I was born in Luxembourg.)
• Ich bin in Deutschland geboren. (I was born in Germany.)

How do I ask someone where they are from?

⁠Woher bist du?

Using this question or the question ⁠Woher kommst du? are the most common ways to find out where somebody is from. There's a lot of different ways someone could respond to this question. They could say the country, city, or even region they are from. For example: ⁠Ich bin aus Luxemburg.

What does the word Heimatstadt mean?

Your Heimatstadt could be several different things. Usually it is the town you were born and raised in, but it could also be the town where your family lives, where you went to school, or really any place that you'd call home. A response to this question might look something like this: ⁠Meine Heimatstadt ist Berlin.

Downloads

Wie geht's Ihnen German?

Wo wohnen Sie Translation?

Wem German translation to English?