Your First Italian: Where You’re From & Live

One of the very first questions you’ll encounter in Italy is about where you’re from and where you live. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to confidently ask and answer these essential questions. Plus, you’ll discover useful vocabulary covering countries, nationalities, and capital cities, along with clear and practical grammar tips to help you speak with ease. You’ll also get plenty of practice to reinforce what you’ve learned and build your confidence.

 How to say where you’re from

To ask where someone is from, say:

• Di dove sei? – Where are you from? (informal)
• Di dov’è? – Where are you from? (formal)

To answer, use:

Sono + nationality

• Sono inglese – I’m English
• Sono scozzese. – I’m Scottish
• Sono gallese. –  I’m Welsh
• Sono irlandese – I’m Irish
• Sono canadese – I’m Canadian
• Sono americano – I’m American
• Sono italiano – I’m Italian

Note: nationalities in Italian are not capitalised.

If you want to answer with the city you were born, use:

Sono + di + city of origin

• Sono di Londra– I’m from London
• Sono di Glasgow – I’m from Glasgow
• Sono di Cardiff –  I’m from Cardiff
• Sono di Dublino – I’m from Dublin
• Sono di New York – I’m from New York
• Sono di Toronto – I’m from Toronto
• Sono di Milano – I’m from Milan

📌 The word sono is from the verb to be and means I am.

The verb to be is the first verb you need to learn to introduce and talk about yourself.

Here is the present tense of the verb to be (essere). This is an irregular verb:

🛠️Useful expressions

Here are some handy phrases with sono to talk about yourself:

Sono Laura (Sono + name)

Sono italiana (Sono + nationality)

Sono di Milano (Sono + di + city of origin)

Sono insegnante (Sono + job)

What do you think the sentences above mean?

Sono Laura (I’m Laura)

Sono italiana (I’m Italian)

Sono di Milano (I’m from Milan)

Sono insegnante (I’m a teacher)

Practice 1.

Now write your own information: Sono…

How to say where you live

To ask someone where they live, use:

• Dove abiti? – Where do you live? (informal)
• Dove abita? – Where do you live? (formal)

To answer, use:

Abito + a + city where you live

• Abito a Londra. – I live in London.
• Abito a Roma. – I live in Rome.
• Abito a Venezia. – I live in Venice.

📌 Use “in” for countries.

Abito + in + country where you live

• Abito in Inghilterra. – I live in England.
• Abito in Italia. – I live in Italy.
• Abito in Irlanda. – I live in Ireland.
• Abito in Germania. – I live in Germany.

Note: if the country is plural in Italian such as the USA (gli Stati Uniti) use negli

• Abito negli Stati Uniti. – I live in the US.

Practice 2.

Now write your own information. Abito…

👤 How to say your nationality

Another option used to ask about nationality, is

• Di che nazionalità sei? – What nationality are you? (informal)
• Di che nazionalità è? – What nationality are you? (formal)

To answer, say:                                                                                                                                           

• Sono finlandese. – I’m Finnish.
• Sono svizzero. – I’m Swiss.
• Sono austriaco. – I’m Austrian.
• Sono giapponese. – I’m Japanese.
• Sono australiano. – I’m Australian.

📌 Many nationalities are the same for men and women, they end in -ese like inglese (English), francese (French), irlandese (Irish), svedese (Swedish), etc.

Others, ending in -o in the masculine, change in -a in the feminine:

• italiano / italiana (Italian)
• spagnolo / spagnola (Spanish)
• americano / americana (American)
• tedesco / tedesca (German)

Useful vocabulary: countries, capitals, nationalities

Here are 10 common countries, their capital cities, and nationalities.

Note: Countries and cities in Italian are also capitalised.

💬 Mini-dialogue example

👩 Ciao! Come ti chiami?
👨 Mi chiamo Mark. E tu?
👩 Sono Anne. Piacere!
👨 Dove abiti?
👩 Abito a Londra. E tu?
👨 Abito a Bristol. Sei inglese?
👩 No, sono scozzese di Edimburgo. E tu?
👨 Sono gallese, di Cardiff.

Practice 3.

Do you understand the above dialogue? Translate it, then check the answer below.

Answer key:

Hi! What’s your name?
My name is Mark. And you?
I’m Anne. Nice to meet you!
Where do you live?
I live in London. And you?
I live in Bristol. Are you English?
No, I’m Scottish, from Edinburgh. And you?
I’m Welsh from Cardiff.

Practice 4.

Answer these questions in Italian:

1. Di dove sei?
2. Dove abiti?
3. Come ti chiami?
4. Di che nazionalità sei?

Want an extra challenge? Try writing answers for a friend or family member too!

✨ Grammar summary

• Abito a + city → Abito a Roma
• Abito in + country → Abito in Italia
• Sono + nationality → Sono italiano / Sono inglese

📣 Ready to use your Italian?

You’ve just learned how to say where you live, where you’re from, and your nationality in Italian — three essential things for starting any conversation!

👉 Want to learn more? Join one of our beginner-friendly Italian courses and start speaking from Day 1. We’ll guide you every step of the way!

Book your free trial lesson here!