When Do I use de Donde as opposed to donde.

Question

What is the difference when you put de in front of dónde when asking a question as opposed to leaving it off? For example

? De dónde está la profesor Mora? or ? Dónde está la profesor Mora?

Same for qué.

?De qué origen es la familia Hernandez? or ?Qué origen es la familia Hernandez?

Which is correct and why? I would think they would mean about the same thing when translated. "Of where is the professor Mora (at)?" Where is the profesor Mora (at)?"

Sorry, can't figure out how to type backwards question mark.

De = From here. Remember in English it's okay to put prepositions at the end of a sentence (despite what people who think they know about grammar but actually don't might tell you) but in Spanish (and Latin) it's not - rabbitwho, Dec 23, 2011

Answer 1

De dónde es --- from where is? or basically, "Where is ___ from?"

Dónde está --- just "where is...?" ..."Where is she?"

De qué origen es -- of what origin is...?

I don't think just "Qué origen...?" is correct, but maybe someone else can verify.

Edited to add:

This link to Spanish accents and punctuation marks.

AND a somewhat clearer explanation...

The first 3* are all correct. It just depends on what you're trying to say. If you want to know the location of something or someone, you're going to use the "Dónde está(n)...?" construction. If you want to know where someone is from, you use "De dónde es/son...?". You can also use "De qué origen es/son..?" to find out where someone is from. The difference is basically the same in English: Where are you from? vs. What's your origin (or your family's origin)?

Note: The first 3 in my list, that is. You wrote "De dónde está..?" but this is not correct. You have the use the verb ser for this construction. Estar is for location, Ser is for origin. "De dónde es...?

For more on "Ser vs. Estar", check here.

In regards to accent marks and punctuations, try this link: http://www.studyspanish.com/accents/typing.htm#winXP - Goldie_Miel, Dec 23, 2011