If I ask a person who I`ve seen first time “where did you come from?” Is it correct same as" Where do you come from?" It doesnt make difference to me.
If you ask, “Where did you come from?” it means you are surprised, because you thought no one was nearby, and then suddenly this person appears.
- “Where did you come from?”
- “Didn’t you hear me? I was right behind you!”
“Where do you come from?” is the question to ask when you want to know what city, state or country someone is from.
but why cant i say, where did you come from? If i wanna know his/her nationality, city etc. its pretty much the same i think. I dislike this in english, its not really a flexible language, there are very strict grammatical roules..in other languages it doesnt make difference you use past or present tense…
IT’S NOT THE SAME!
“Where do you come from?” means, “What is your nationality, city, etc.?”
“Where did you come from?” means, “What place did you come from right now?”
English is precise in a way that languages using the past and present tenses interchangeably may not be.
I think one reason you’re having trouble with English is that you’re probably stubborn. You have just been told by a native English speaker what two different sentences mean, and you just come back and argue that the native speaker is wrong and you’re right. You will have trouble learning any language if you’re not more flexible in your thinking and willing to accept that it doesn’t work the way you want it to.
I didnt argue, i just wanted more explanation than" this is correct and thats incorrenct. Does it work, if I use like that? “which town did you come from?”
No, it doesn’t work, because, “Which town did you come from?” is asking which town the person has come from right now, not what his hometown is.
I thought it could be clear from the context, either way i use, i`m interested in her/his nationality, and not the town where they travelled from.
Then you have to say it the right way.
Everybody understands Tarzan, because his message is always clear from context, but his grammar is horrible.
Hello, Take It Easy:
(1) I know how hard it is to learn another language. I am self-studying Chinese and Spanish, and the grammar really confuses me because it is often different from English grammar.
(2) I think that “Where DID you come from?” would be fine in this situation:
Tom: I love the United States.
Sue: Me, too.
Tom: I CAME to the United States in 2005 from ___. Where DID you come from?
Sue: Oh, I CAME from _____in 2008.
Tom: Nice meeting you.
Sincerely,
James
Hi James, thank you for this example, The problem is Ive been living in an English speaking country since 2010, and my brain still doesnt think in English, I often think in my mother tonque when I speak this language. Sometimes I succeed in thinking English, but not always.
Indeed, It`s difficult to grasp the differences between languages. Taking that into account, grammatically, my first language is utterly opposite from English.
Im putting a great effort in learning English, to reach proficiency as well as boosting my fluency. Ill be studying at university next year, hopefully by the end of the course, I will become billingual or really expert on English. Although by this time I`ve made a great progress in this language. Now the next step is, I want to loose my natural European accent and picking up a nice American one.
Thanks for the replies, and sorry if I seemed stubborn, and an arguing person.
Regards
Laszlo
Hello, Laszlo:
(1) I do not think that you are “stubborn.”
(2) I think that you are an excellent student. In my opinion, you are right to keep asking until you find an answer that satisfies you.
(3) In other words, get the opinions of as many people as possible, and then you can make your own decision as to what is “right” or “wrong.”
(4) And, as you have already discovered, many books and native speakers do not agree on many things.
Best of luck.
James