What’s your name? Where are you from?

What's your name? where are you from? in this lesson you will learn how to ask some question to peole in german in a formal and informal context, lesson in english. ich komme aus, mein name is

Introducing yourself


After asking someone how he/she is, you generally want to know something more about him/her, for example where he/she comes from.


How are you? is translated by Wie geht es dir? when talking to a friend or peer, and by Wie geht es Ihnen? if your interlocutor is a stranger or an authority. (see lesson 1)


The same distinction is made when you ask Where are you from?
Woher kommst du? or Wo kommst du her? are used in informal contexts
Woher kommen Sie? or Wo kommen Sie her? are used in formal contexts

A possible answer to this question would be:
Ich komme aus München – I come from Munich.
You could also answer:
Ich wohne in München or Ich lebe in München – I live in Munich.


?QUESTION?                                                               !ANSWER!


Woher kommst du? / Wo kommst du her?                      Ich komme aus…


Woher kommen Sie? / Wo kommen Sie her?                Ich wohne / lebe in…


It’s interesting to know where somebody is from, but it’s even more important to ask for his/her name and to introduce yourself.
To ask for someone’s name in German you say: Wie heißt du? This is the informal expression, while the formal one is Wie heißen Sie?The answer to both questions is the same:
Ich heiße … – My name is …
You could also say
Ich bin … – I am …
As an alternative, you can ask:
Wie ist dein Name? (informal) or Wie ist Ihr Name? (formal)
These are the literal translations of What’s your name? to which you will answer:
Mein Name ist ... – My name is …


To sum up:

Informal question

Formal question

Answer


Where are you from?

Woher kommst du?Wo kommst du her?

Woher kommen Sie?Wo kommen Sie her?

Ich komme aus…Ich wohne in…Ich lebe in…

I come from…I live in…



What’s your name?

Wie heißt du?

Wie heißen Sie?

Ich heiße…Ich bin…

My name is…I am…


Wie ist dein Name?

Wie ist Ihr Name?

Mein Name ist…

The whole conversation could be like this:

A: Guten Tag, wie geht es dir? – Good morning, how are you?
B: Es geht so, und dir? – So-so and you?
A: Mir geht es gut. – I’m fine
B: Wie heißt du? – What’s your name?
A: Ich heiße Sandra, und du? – I’m Sandra and you?
B: Mein Name ist Frauke – My name is Frauke
A: Woher kommst du? – Where are you from?
B: Ich komme aus Frankfurt und du? – I come from Frankfurt and you?
A: Ich komme aus Berlin – I come from Berlin
B: Tschüss – Bye
A: Tschüss – Bye

This is obviously an example of an informal conversation with a person you have just met in an informal context. It could be a dialogue between children, teens or young adults. From a certain age on you won’t use the informal register with people you have just met.