Spanish · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 5
¿De dónde eres?Where are you from?
Saying where you are from is very easy: ser + de + place — Soy de España. And for nationality you use an adjective that AGREES with you: a man is español, a woman is española; americano / americana. They are written lowercase, unlike English. You learn país (country) and ciudad (city), dónde and también. Mike trips up again — this time on nationality agreement. And the first culture section: tú versus usted, and why Spaniards carry TWO surnames.
Dialogue
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Soy de España— I'm from Spain
- CarlosLucía, ¿de dónde eres?Lucía, where are you from?
- LucíaSoy de España. Soy española. ¿Y tú?I'm from Spain. I'm Spanish. And you?
- CarlosTambién soy de España. ¡Un país!I'm from Spain too. One country!
- LucíaSí. Y amigos.Yes. And friends.
Dialogue
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Mike y la concordancia— Mike and Agreement
- LucíaMike, ¿de dónde eres?Mike, where are you from?
- MikeNo soy de España. Soy americana.I'm not from Spain. I'm americana. (wrong: Mike is male, so americano)
- LucíaMike, "Soy americano".Mike, "Soy americano". (the nationality agrees with you — masculine, -o)
- Mike¡Ah! Soy americano. Gracias.Ah! I'm American. Thanks.
Vocabulary
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- de
prepositionof, from
- país (m)
nouncountry
- ciudad (f)
nouncity
- España
nounSpain
- español/a
adjectiveSpanish
- americano/a
adjectiveAmerican
- Japón
nounJapan
- China
nounChina
- dónde
adverbwhere
- también
adverbalso, too
Grammar
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ser + de — origin
Explanation
To say where you are from, use ser + de + place: Soy de España, Es de Japón. The question is ¿De dónde eres? — literally "from where are-you". The "de" always goes right before the place and is never dropped. To ask and answer with yes/no, repeat the same structure: ¿Eres de China? — No, soy de España. (The country name is capitalised; the nationality adjective is not — that's the next lesson.)
Examples
- ¿De dónde eres? — Soy de España.Where are you from? — I'm from Spain.
- Ella es de Japón.She is from Japan.
- ¿Eres de China? — No, soy de España.Are you from China? — No, I'm from Spain.
Grammar
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Nationalities that agree (and también)
Explanation
In Spanish, the nationality is an ADJECTIVE that agrees with the person: a man is español, a woman is española; americano / americana. Two details surprise the English speaker: (1) they are written LOWERCASE — español, not "Español"; (2) they usually go WITHOUT an article after ser, just like professions: Soy español, not "soy un español". And the word también ("also") goes before the verb or at the end: También soy de España = Soy de España también.
Examples
- Él es español. Ella es española.He is Spanish. She is Spanish.
- Soy americano. (minúscula, sin artículo)I'm American. (lowercase, no article)
- Ella es de China. También es estudiante.She is from China. She is also a student.
Culture
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Tú y usted, y los dos apellidosTú and usted, and the two surnames
Two things surprise an English speaker early: Spanish has an informal "tú" and a formal "usted", and Spaniards carry TWO surnames. Neither is complicated, but both say something about how people relate to each other.
Tú versus usted
tú is the informal "you" — for friends, peers, young people. usted is the formal, respectful one — for elders, authorities, or professional dealings. In Spain, tú is used widely and quickly, even with strangers your age; usted is reserved for clear formality. (Much of Latin America leans more to usted.) One key detail: usted takes the verb in the THIRD person — ¿Cómo está usted?, not "estás". Mixing tú and usted forms gives the learner away.
Vosotros, only in Spain
To address several people at once, Spain uses vosotros (informal) and ustedes (formal). Latin America has lost vosotros: it uses ustedes for all plurals, formal or not. So "you all" is vosotros among friends in Madrid, but ustedes across the Americas. If you learn the Spanish of Spain, you will meet vosotros; if you are preparing for Latin America, ustedes is enough.
Two surnames
A full Spanish name is: given name + father's surname + mother's surname. Ana García López = Ana, daughter of a García and a López. The FIRST surname (García) is the main one, used day to day. And here is the important part: people do NOT "lose" their surname on marriage — a woman stays García López her whole life. The two surnames keep both families visible.
If you hesitate over "you": with peers and young people, use tú; with someone clearly older or in an official dealing, use usted — and let them invite you to switch to tú ("podemos tutearnos"). And if you hear two surnames, remember: the first is the one that matters for calling someone.
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