¿De dónde son ustedes?
To ask "where are you guys from?" in Spanish, say ¿De dónde son ustedes?
¿De dónde son ustedes? asks a group of two or more people where they come from.
What does it mean word for word?
De means from, dónde means where, son means you are and ustedes means you, plural.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Latin America ustedes is the normal plural you for any group, friends included. In Spain an informal group of friends is usually addressed with a different plural pronoun, and ustedes sounds more polite there.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Put De at the very start. Spanish never ends a question with a preposition the way English does with from.
Did you know?
- The word ustedes evolved from vuestra merced, which translates to 'your mercy' or 'your grace'.
- Spanish allows for 'pro-drop', meaning you can often omit ustedes entirely and just say ¿De dónde son?, as the verb ending already tells the listener you are talking to a group.
- The preposition de is a direct descendant of the Latin word dē, which was used to indicate moving away from a point.
Example conversation
Sofía meets Mateo and his friends at a party.
- SofíaHola, mucho gusto. ¿De dónde son ustedes?Hi, nice to meet you. Where are you guys from?
- MateoHola, Sofía. Somos de México.Hi, Sofia. We are from Mexico.
- Sofía¡Qué bien! Yo soy de Madrid.That's great! I am from Madrid.
- Mateo¡Qué increíble! Es una ciudad muy bonita.How incredible! It is a very beautiful city.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, dónde, son, ustedes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
