Use of Donde and Related Words for Where in Spanish

Donde and related words and phrases are used in Spanish to indicate the concept of where. The different forms can be easy to confuse, and even native speakers dont always clearly distinguish between sound-alikes such as adonde and a donde. Here are the most common uses: Donde Donde typically functions as a relative pronoun following a noun or preposition. Its use is a bit broader than the English where, so it can sometimes be translated as which or in which. Es la casa donde nacià ³ mi madre. (Its the house where my mother was born.)El lugar donde vivimos nos hace quienes somos. (The place where we live makes us what we are.)Las escrituras son el espejo donde vemos el alma. (The scriptures are the mirror in which we see the soul.)Encontraron un lugar estratà ©gico desde donde se podà ­an controlar las caà ±ones. (They found a strategic place from which they could control the cannons.) When donde is used in a phrase that functions as an adverb to affect the meaning of a verb, it typically is preceded by a preposition such as a, en, or de. The preposition is not typically translated to English, although a phrase such as in the place that or from where could substitute for where. Invierte tu dinero en donde està © tu corazà ³n. (Invest your money where your heart is. The phrase en donde refers back to the verb invierte. The sentence could alternatively be translate as Invest your money in the place your heart is.)No sà © de donde obtenà ­a ella el poder para ver el futuro. (I dont know from where she got the power to see the future. The phrase de donde refers back to the verb sà ©. The sentence could alternatively be translated as I dont know from where she got the power to see the future.)Fueron a donde estaban las chicas. (They went where the girls were. To in the translation is optional.)Viajo a donde los mapas terminan. (Im journeying to where the maps end.) Dà ³nde Dà ³nde is similar to donde but is used in questions, indirect questions, and exclamations. If youre asking something that expresses the concept of where to and want to use the preposition a, use adà ³nde (see below), which is the equivalent of a dà ³nde, although the former is preferred. Note that dà ³nde without a preposition does not indicate movement:  ¿Dà ³nde comemos hoy? (Where are we eating today?_ ¿Dà ³nde en el web puedo crear mi cuenta? (Where on the web page can I create my account?) ¿De dà ³nde eres? (Where are you from?)No quiero saber dà ³nde has estado o que has visto. (I dont want to know where you have been or what you have seen.)i ¡Hacia dà ³nde vamos? (Where in the world are we going to?)No sà © dà ³nde està ¡. (I dont know where he is.) Adonde Adonde usually functions as a relative adverb, typically following a location and followed by a verb of motion. Pueden escoger la escuela adonde quieren enviar a sus hijos. (You can choose the school where you want to send your children to.)Aquella es la playa adonde fuimos hace unos aà ±os. (That is the beach were we went to some years ago.)Està ¡n en un remoto pueblo adonde viajaron para dar un concierto. (Theyre in a remote village where they went to give a concert.) Adà ³nde Adà ³nde is used in direct and indirect questions to indicate motion toward a place:  ¿Adà ³nde vamos despuà ©s que morimos? (Where do we go to after we die?) ¿Adà ³nde sales con tus amigos? (Where are you leaving to with your friends?)No tengo la menor idea adà ³nde nos llevarà ¡. (I dont have the slightest idea where it will take us to.) Dondequiera Dondequiera (or, less commonly, adondequiera) is typically used as an adverb meaning anywhere, everywhere, or anyplace. It is sometimes spelled as two words: donde quiera. No habà ­a una escalera dondequiera. (There werent stairs anywhere.)Triunfaremos dondequiera que vamos. (We will triumph wherever we go.)Dondequiera que fue mi amigo, encontrà ³ problemas. (Wherever my friend went he ran into problems.)Dondequiera veo gente abrazandose y eso me hace sentir tan feliz. (Wherever I look I see people hugging each other than this makes me feel so happy.)Nos encontrarà ­amos caminando por dondequiera en el desierto sin propà ³sito ni direccià ³n. (We found ourselves walking everywhere in the desert without aim or purpose.) Although less common, donde sea is sometimes used in the same way: Irà © a donde sea que se me abra una puerta. (I will go to wherever a door opens for me.)Puedes comer saludable donde sea. (You can eat healthy anywhere.) Key Takeaways Donde is typically used as a relative pronoun to mean where and can follow a noun or a preposition.When donde is used to affect the meaning of a verb, it is preceded by a preposition such as a, de, or en.The accented form of dà ³nde is used for where in questions.