Brazilians are very curious about foreigners in their country. They will surely ask you, where you're from. They are wondering why you're here for a few reasons: (1) they like to hear that their country is a sought-after destination. It makes them proud!; (2) they have a lot of foreigners living in Brazil and, and they want to group you into the right category; (3) many Brazilian have mixed ancestors and they will want to know if you German or Italian or French or Angolan like their grandfather is!
But even Google Translate fails to understand this sentence.
Google says it's » Where you are from?
I thought they were using AI to improve their translations.
And it's a bit twisted because literally, you are asking: Of where you are?; but the correct translation is of course: Where are you from?
De onde você é? & Você é de onde?
These two versions are the most common. They mean exactly the same thing. It's like we'll often say, You're from where?
Let's hear it: De onde você é?
Variations
* the mesmo is just filler - it adds emphasis: Where are you really from?
Notice they use qual (which) rather than what. You could translate these using what rather than qual. I left it as QUAL just to be clear. Brazilians say, Which country are you from? They will never substitute it for WHAT!
Often people will simply say, De onde?
But don't confuse this with Cadê você? or, Onde é? 😉
» Even more contextual examples.
» More ways that the word onde is used.
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