Learn how to ask and answer "Where are you from?"
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| Welcome to EnglishClass101.com’s British English in Three Minutes. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn English. |
| Hey everyone, I’m Gina! |
| This series explains some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English. It’s really useful, and it only takes three minutes! |
| In this lesson, you’re going to learn some different ways people will ask you, “Where are you from?” |
| First, though, “Where are you from?” can mean many things. It can mean, Which city are you from? or Which county are you from? In fact, Brits ask this question to each other all the time to learn which part of the UK the other person comes from. |
| Of course, though, it can also mean “What country are you from?” |
| If you want to answer this question, there are two ways to do it. You can say |
| “I’m...” plus, your nationality |
| as in |
| “I’m Japanese.” |
| or |
| “I’m Brazilian.” |
| Or you can say |
| “I’m from...” plus, the country you are from |
| As in |
| “I’m from Italy.” |
| or |
| “I’m from Thailand.” |
| If you’re from a really famous city or place, you can say that, too. |
| For example, |
| “I’m from Beijing.” |
| or |
| “I’m from New Delhi.” |
| Of course, in the United Kingdom, as in other parts of the world, people may be a little more indirect because they want to be polite. |
| To do this, they might ask you if you are from the place where they meet you. |
| For example, if you meet someone in London, they might ask. |
| “Are you from London?” |
| or if you are in York, they might ask |
| “Are you from York?” |
| Many parts of the United Kingdom are very multi-cultural, so asking the question this way avoids what could be an embarrassing mistake. |
| You can answer this the same way you answer “Where are you from?” Just add a simple “No” in front. |
| For example, you can say, No, I’m... and then your nationality |
| “No, I’m French.” |
| or No, I’m from... and then your country. |
| “No, I’m from Russia.” |
| Now it’s time for Gina’s Tips! |
| The UK is a diverse place - people you meet may take great pride in the place or region they come from. If you ask someone about where they’re from, they may respond by saying something like, Yorkshire, Lancashire, or Hertfordshire. If they answer in this way, it usually means they are interested in talking more about their region and how it differs from others. |
| In this lesson, we learned some different ways to ask, “Where are you from?” |
| Do you know what to ask when you don’t know someone’s name? Of course you do! But what do you say when you’ve forgotten someone’s name? |
| Find out next time in the next British English in 3 Minutes Lesson! See you next time! |
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