elle vient de
To say she is from in French, use elle vient de followed by the place.
To say where she is originally from, especially in formal situations, use Elle est originaire de.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally means she comes from.
Which one should you use?
elle vient de stresses origin, while elle est de is often used to name the city where a person was born or grew up.
How does it change in a sentence?
Before a masculine country starting with a consonant, de becomes du, as in elle vient du. Before a plural country it becomes des, as in elle vient des.
Did you know?
- In French, the verb venir used in elle vient de is the same word used to express a very recent past action, such as saying she just arrived.
- The word de in this phrase is a direct descendant of the Latin preposition dē, which originally meant 'down from'.
- While elle vient de describes origin, the verb venir is also used to accept an invitation, such as saying je viens to mean 'I am coming' or 'I will be there'.
Examples in context
- Je pense qu'elle vient de France.I think that she is from France.Here the phrase follows Je pense, I think.Tatoeba #8731444 by Julien_PDC, translation #5150325 by CarpeLanam
- Elle vient de France.She is from France.France is feminine, so it takes plain de with no article.Tatoeba #905743 by gall, translation #456719 by lukaszpp
- Elle est originaire de ParisShe is from Paris.
- Elle vient de BelgiqueShe is from Belgium.
- Elle vient du QuébecShe is from Quebec.
- Elle est de MarseilleShe is from Marseille.
- Elle vient de Lyon.She is from Lyon.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a new colleague.
- LéaTu connais la nouvelle collègue ?Do you know the new colleague?
- NathanNon, elle vient de quelle ville ?No, what city is she from?
- LéaElle vient de Paris.She is from Paris.
- NathanAh, d'accord.Ah, okay.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, elle, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
