Basis Nederlandse woorden en zinnen voor beginners

What does “waar kom je vandaan” mean in Dutch?

To ask where someone is from, Dutch says waar kom je vandaan? The key word is vandaan — “from (a place),” with the sense of coming away from it. Plain van means “from,” but when there’s motion away from somewhere, Dutch adds vandaan — and it lands at the end of the sentence, which catches English speakers off guard. The answer uses uit (out of): Ik kom uit Spanje — I come from Spain.

It’s one of the first questions in any Dutch introduction: “Waar kom je vandaan?” — “Ik kom uit Nederland.” Countries and cities take uit: uit Spanje, uit Rotterdam. Vandaan pairs with other place words too: Waar haal je dat vandaan? (Where do you get that from?), Hij komt daar vandaan (He’s from there). It’s built from van (from) + daan, an old word for “thence,” and it always sits at the end of its clause.