Where Are You From In German (Woher Kommst Du? Woher Kommen Sie?)

At my first German party, I was standing there clutching a drink like it was a life jacket when someone turned to me and asked: „Woher kommst du?“ /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/

My brain did what it always did under stress: rebooted in three languages at once. I panicked, blurted out, „Ich bin… äh… Kanada.“ /ɪç bɪn kaˈnaːda/ and immediately wished the floor would open up and swallow the silly foreign yak who had accidentally become a whole country.

Once I finally learned a few clean patterns for talking about where I’m from and where I live, these conversations went from terrifying to automatic. Let’s get you to the point where Woher kommst du? feels like a friendly invitation, not a grammar attack.

Quick Primer

Here are the core phrases you need around “Where are you from?” in German:

Two very simple patterns unlock most of this:

• Woher kommst du? / Woher kommen Sie? → asking
  
• Ich komme aus … / Ich bin aus … → answering
  

Once those feel automatic, you can add where you live, your nationality, and your city.

Woher: Asking About Origin, Not Just Location

The magic word here is woher /voˈheːɐ̯/ – literally “from where”.

Compare:

• Wo bist du? /voː bɪst duː/ – Where are you? (current location)
  
• Woher kommst du? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/ – Where are you from? (origin)
  

The basic question patterns:

Structure:

Woher + Verb (kommen) + Subject

Once you know that, you can play:

• Woher kommt er? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmt eːɐ̯/ – Where is he from?
  
• Woher kommt deine Familie? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmt ˈdaɪ̯nə faˈmiːli̯ə/ – Where is your family from?
  

Formal Vs Informal: Du Or Sie?

German loves its du /duː/ (informal “you”) and Sie /ziː/ (formal “you”). The question changes slightly depending on which one you use.

Informal: Woher kommst du?

Use Woher kommst du? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/ with:

• friends
  
• classmates
  
• people your age in casual settings
  
• people who already said du to you
  

Example:

• Woher kommst du eigentlich?
  /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː ˈaɪ̯ɡntlɪç/
  Where are you from, actually?
  

Formal: Woher kommen Sie?

Use Woher kommen Sie? /voˈheːɐ̯ ˈkɔmən ziː/ with:

• teachers, professors
  
• older people you don’t know well
  
• people in offices, hotels, official situations
  
• interview / professional contexts
  

Example:

• Und woher kommen Sie?
  /ʊnt voˈheːɐ̯ ˈkɔmən ziː/
  And where are you from?
  

If you’re not sure which to use, you’re almost always safe with the formal Woher kommen Sie? until someone invites you to switch to du.

Answering: Ich komme aus… / Ich bin aus…

Now the fun part: actually answering without becoming a whole country like I did.

Two very common and natural patterns:

• Ich komme aus… /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s…/ – I come from…
  
• Ich bin aus… /ɪç bɪn aʊ̯s…/ – I am from…
  

Both sound natural; Ich komme aus… is slightly more standard in textbooks, but you’ll hear both constantly.

Countries

Same with Ich bin aus…:

• Ich bin aus Kanada.
  /ɪç bɪn aʊ̯s ˈkanada/
  I’m from Canada.
  

Cities

You can plug in cities just as easily:

• Ich komme aus London.
  /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈlɔndɔn/
  I’m from London.
  
• Ich komme aus Berlin.
  /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s bɛʁˈliːn/
  I’m from Berlin.
  
• Ich komme aus Taipei.
  /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s taɪ̯ˈpeɪ̯/
  I’m from Taipei.
  

If you want to be extra clear that you mean your home country, not just where you live now, you can say:

• Ich komme ursprünglich aus Brasilien.
  /ɪç ˈkɔmə ˈuːʁʃpʁʏŋlɪç aʊ̯s bʁaˈziːli̯ən/
  I’m originally from Brazil.
  

From vs Live: Woher kommst du? Vs Wo wohnst du?

German makes a nice clean difference:

• Woher kommst du? → “Where are you from (originally)?”
  
• Wo wohnst du? /voː voːnst duː/ → “Where do you live (now)?”
  

You’ll often hear them together:

• Woher kommst du?
  /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/
  Where are you from?
  
• Ich komme aus Mexiko.
  /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈmɛksiko/
  I’m from Mexico.
  
• Und wo wohnst du jetzt?
  /ʊnt voː voːnst duː jɛtst/
  And where do you live now?
  
• Ich wohne in Hamburg.
  /ɪç ˈvoːnə ɪn ˈhambʊʁk/
  I live in Hamburg.
  

Key patterns:

So you can introduce both your roots and your current base:

Ich komme aus Kanada, aber ich wohne in München.
/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈkanada ˈaːbɐ ɪç ˈvoːnə ɪn ˈmʏnçən/
I’m from Canada, but I live in Munich.

Pronunciation Tips: Woher, Kommen, Aus

Let’s polish a few key sounds so you don’t trip over your own origin story.

Woher /voˈheːɐ̯/

• wo /voː/ – like “voh”
  
• her /heːɐ̯/ – like “hay” with a slight r-colouring
  

Say it slowly: vo-HEHR but keep the r soft.

Kommen /ˈkɔmən/

• ko /kɔ/ – like the “co” in coffee (short, not “koh”)
  
• -men /mən/ – like a relaxed “mən”
  

kommen /ˈkɔmən/ is short and round, not kOO-men.

Aus /aʊ̯s/

• One syllable: like “owss” in English.
  
• Mouth starts open (a) then glides to (ʊ̯).
  

Practice chaining:

• Woher kommst du? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/
  
• Ich komme aus… /ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s…/
  

Whisper them a few times until they feel like one smooth block instead of three separate math problems.

Region Notes

The phrases Woher kommst du? and Woher kommen Sie? are standard and used across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Good news: they don’t really change.

What does change a bit:

• Accent and melody might sound softer, slower, or more sing-song in Austria or Switzerland.
  
• In casual dialect, people may shorten things, but they still understand the standard forms perfectly.
  

Useful extra:

• Aus welcher Stadt kommst du?
  /aʊ̯s ˈvɛlçɐ ʃtat kɔmst duː/
  Which city are you from?
  

But as a learner, you’re absolutely safe sticking to:

• Woher kommst du? / Woher kommen Sie?
  
• Ich komme aus…
  
• Ich wohne in…
  

These are universal.

Mini Dialogues

Dialogue 1 – First Day In A Language Course

Woher kommst du?
/voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/
Where are you from?

Ich komme aus Australien. Und du?
/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s aʊ̯sˈtʁaːli̯ən ʊnt duː/
I’m from Australia. And you?

Ich komme aus Polen, aber ich wohne in Berlin.
/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈpoːlən ˈaːbɐ ɪç ˈvoːnə ɪn bɛʁˈliːn/
I’m from Poland, but I live in Berlin.

Cool, dann können wir zusammen Deutsch üben.
/kuːl dan ˈkœnən viːɐ̯ tsuˈzamən dɔʏ̯t͡ʃ ˈyːbən/
Cool, then we can practise German together.

Dialogue 2 – At A Party (Informal)

Hi, ich bin Max.
/haɪ̯ ɪç bɪn maks/
Hi, I’m Max.

Hallo, ich heiße Sara.
/ˈhaloː ɪç ˈhaɪ̯sə ˈzaːʁa/
Hello, my name is Sara.

Woher kommst du, Max?
/voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː maks/
Where are you from, Max?

Ich komme aus Irland, aber ich arbeite jetzt in München.
/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s ˈɪʁlant ˈaːbɐ ɪç ˈaʁbaɪ̯tə jɛtst ɪn ˈmʏnçən/
I’m from Ireland, but I work in Munich now.

Dialogue 3 – Formal Small Talk

Und woher kommen Sie, Frau Schmidt?
/ʊnt voˈheːɐ̯ ˈkɔmən ziː fʁaʊ ʃmɪt/
And where are you from, Ms Schmidt?

Ich komme aus der Schweiz.
/ɪç ˈkɔmə aʊ̯s deːɐ̯ ʃvaɪ̯ts/
I’m from Switzerland.

Und wo wohnen Sie jetzt?
/ʊnt voː ˈvoːnən ziː jɛtst/
And where do you live now?

Ich wohne in Hamburg, seit drei Jahren.
/ɪç ˈvoːnə ɪn ˈhambʊʁk zaɪ̯t dʁaɪ̯ ˈjaːʁən/
I’ve lived in Hamburg for three years.

Quick Reference

Here’s your compact “Where are you from?” toolkit:

If you can remember just these two pairs, you’re already dangerous in small talk:

• Woher kommst du? / Woher kommen Sie?
  
• Ich komme aus… / Ich bin aus…
  

Five-Minute Practice Plan

• Say out loud ten times: Woher kommst du? /voˈheːɐ̯ kɔmst duː/ and Woher kommen Sie? /voˈheːɐ̯ ˈkɔmən ziː/, alternating each time.
  
• Stand in front of a mirror and answer the question three different ways:
  Ich komme aus…, Ich bin aus…, Ich komme ursprünglich aus… with your real country or made-up ones for fun.
  
• Add where you live: say three combos like Ich komme aus Kanada, aber ich wohne in Berlin. out loud, changing country and city.
  
• Write down three mini Q&A pairs (for example: Woher kommst du? – Ich komme aus Spanien.) and read them as if you’re two different people.
  
• Whisper Woher, kommen, and aus separately ten times, then chain them: Woher kommst du? Ich komme aus… until it feels smooth.
  
• For one day, every time someone mentions a country or city in any language, quietly repeat to yourself: Ich komme aus … with that place in German.
  

A Yak’s Favourite Question

“Where are you from?” is one of those questions that turns strangers into stories. Once Woher kommst du? and Ich komme aus… roll off your tongue without effort, you stop dreading introductions and start enjoying them. You get to be the person who asks first, listens calmly, and answers smoothly—like a relaxed, worldly yak who has clearly been around.