¿Dónde está mi teléfono?
Where's my phone?
When you're hunting for something, the question starts with dónde, then está, then the missing thing.
From Lo que ellos quieren · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "where" in Spanish
dónde
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"Where" in Spanish is dónde: ¿Dónde está el coche? It carries an accent in questions and usually comes right before está. Add a preposition to change the meaning: ¿adónde? is where to, and ¿de dónde? is where from.
Hear "dónde" in real movie scenes
A lost phone and a phone call. Each video starts and stops on that line.
¿Dónde está?
Where are you?
On the phone the short ¿Dónde está? is enough, and here it's the polite usted form, asking where the other person is.
From Volver al futuro · Spanish audio
Dónde with a preposition
One small word in front gives you a new question.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Dónde? | Where? | ¿Dónde está el coche? |
| ¿Adónde? | Where to? | ¿Adónde vas? (Where are you going?) |
| ¿De dónde? | Where from? | ¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from?) |
| ¿Por dónde? | Which way? | ¿Por dónde se va a la plaza? (Which way to the square?) |
| ¿Hasta dónde? | How far? | ¿Hasta dónde vamos? (How far are we going?) |
Tip: You can write adónde as one word or a dónde as two. Both spellings are correct.
Grammar: asking with dónde
Four points for asking where things and people are.
Dónde plus está
To ask where something is, use está: ¿Dónde está el coche? For more than one thing, use están: ¿Dónde están las llaves?Events take es
A party, a concert or a class takes es: ¿Dónde es la fiesta? Here you ask where the event takes place.Accent or no accent
¿Dónde? asks. Without the accent, donde means where inside a statement: la casa donde vivo, the house where I live.Verb before the subject
The verb follows dónde, and the person comes after it: ¿Dónde trabaja tu padre?Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
¿Dónde está el coche?
Where's the car?
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
¿Dónde está la carretera?
Where's the main road?
¿Dónde está el perro?
Where's the dog?
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗¿Dónde es el baño?
✓¿Dónde está el baño?
Rooms, objects and places take estar. Es fits only when you ask about an event.
✗¿Donde vives?
✓¿Dónde vives?
When it asks something, dónde keeps its accent mark.
✗¿Dónde eres? (asking someone's origin)
✓¿De dónde eres?
Origin needs de in front. To ask where someone is right now, say ¿Dónde estás?
Real conversation: an island on the map
A short dialog in the school hallway. Tap to listen.
A big world map hangs in the school hallway. Diego points at an island and asks you about it.
¡Oye! ¿Dónde está esta isla?
Hey! Where is this island?
Está en Italia.
It's in Italy.
¡Ah, Italia! Yo soy de Roma.
Oh, Italy! I'm from Rome.
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last line.
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How to remember it
Dónde sounds like "Don, day?" Picture a friend named Don who never shows up, and every day you ask ¿Dónde está Don?
Questions about "where" in Spanish
How do you say where in Spanish?
¿Dónde?, with an accent in questions: ¿Dónde está el coche? In a statement it drops the accent: la ciudad donde vivo.
How do you say "where is the bathroom" in Spanish?
¿Dónde está el baño? In bars and restaurants in Spain you'll also hear ¿Dónde están los servicios?
What's the difference between dónde and adónde?
Dónde asks where something is. Adónde asks where someone is heading: ¿Adónde vas?
How do you say "where are you from" in Spanish?
¿De dónde eres? To someone you call usted, ask ¿De dónde es usted? A reply sounds like Soy de Roma.
