Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[rayt]

Could please clarify me the difference between

Where do you come from?
and
Where are you from?


AND when is the proper time to use them?

Thank you!

[Bluegum]

They both mean the same - what is your native country or your hometown. The second is perhaps slightly less formal. Maybe you are thinking of "Where have you come from?" which means where were you just before coming here ?(- did you come straight from work? or similar.)

[dragn]

Bluegum is right...they both mean the same thing. Whether the speaker is asking about country or city (or possibly state for Americans), however, usually depends on the context.

For example, let's say several American students at a state university in the U.S. are chatting. Now, this is a situation where the majority of the American students are from that same state (because in-state tuition is much cheaper than out-of-state tuition). Naturally, students from that state would be familiar with most of the cities in that area, and so a listener who is from that state would just respond with the name of his city. Of course, if in fact the student were from another state, he'd respond with his state (perhaps in conjunction with a mention of his city).

For a different type of example, consider a guy in the Navy who reports aboard a new ship. He meets several of his new shipmates, who may be from all over the country. They're all Americans, sure, but they may be from virtually any state. In this conversation, the question would probably be answered with the name of the state and not the city (unless the city is one that is well known).

In more international situations where people are from various countries, the expected response is usually just the name of the country.

Anyway, it's interesting how subtle contextual influences and expectations can shape the way we communicate.

Rayt, as far as the proper time to use these two questions is concerned, I'm not really sure what sort of answer you're looking for here, and nothing special comes to mind. I suppose when you meet someone and you want to know. They're both perfectly friendly, innocent, appropriate questions, if that's what you're worried about. I mean, it's not as if you were asking something that was potentially embarrassing, like Are you married? or How much do you weigh? or something. I wouldn't worry too much about that.

dragn

[rayt]

Thank you for your expertise.

Still, for international situation, say there is a Japanese live in Los angeles, CA.

What should be the answers for...
Where are you from?
Where do you come from?

I appreciate your further clarification.

[dragn]

For someone from Japan (or pretty much any other country) speaking to people in Los Angeles (or pretty much any other place in America), I think in most cases the name of the country would be the normal, expected answer. Again, as always, context plays a role. If the person is from Tokyo, he could just say that--everybody knows Tokyo is in Japan (yes, even most Americans, in spite of their legendary ignorance of world geography).

If the person is from Yawatahama, however, that's a different story. If people in the U.S. ask him where he's from and he proudly announces that he's from Yawatahama, that's not very informative because nobody (except possibly somebody from Japan) would be likely to know where that is. In effect, he didn't really answer the question. No real communication has taken place. The next question would most certainly be Where on earth is Yawatawhatever?

dragn

Assumed knowledge on the part of the listener is a factor in such situations. The bottom line, as is usually the case in language, is to effectively communicate with others, not to follow some arbitrary rules of some sort.