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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner

How do you say "Where are you from?" in Japanese?

出身地はどこですか?

shusshinchi wa doko desu ka ?

Phrase Kanji

In Japanese, "Where are you from?" is 出身地はどこですか? (shusshinchi wa doko desu ka ?).

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Pronunciation

出身地はどこですか? is written using kanji. Romanised as shusshinchi wa doko desu ka ?, it sounds roughly like "shoos-shee-n-chee-wah-doh-koh-deh-soo-kah" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Shusshinchi (出身地) uses shushin (origin or background) plus chi (place). Doko (どこ) means where and is the locational question word.

Example sentence

「どこ出身ですか?」は自己紹介でよく使います。

'Doko shusshin desu ka?' wa jiko shoukai de yoku tsukaimasu.

'Where are you from?' is commonly used when introducing yourself.

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How to remember 出身地はどこですか?

Shushin means your birthplace or hometown. Doko works for all location questions, making it a universal spatial inquiry.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

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Questions about 出身地はどこですか?

How do you pronounce 出身地はどこですか?

出身地はどこですか? is romanised as shusshinchi wa doko desu ka ?. Say it roughly like "shoos-shee-n-chee-wah-doh-koh-deh-soo-kah" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 出身地はどこですか formal or casual?

出身地はどこですか? is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 出身地はどこですか written in Japanese?

出身地はどこですか? is written using kanji. Shusshinchi (出身地) uses shushin (origin or background) plus chi (place).

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

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"Where are you from?" in other languages

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