How do you say where are you in Italian?
Dove sei?
| Words you should know | Dove (where) + essere (to be) |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers and groups |
Dove sei?
Where are you? (singular, familiar)
For example, you can say…
Dove sei? – Sono davanti all’edicola. Tu dove sei, invece?
Where are you? – I’m in front of the newsstand. Where are you instead?
Dove sei? – Sono ancora a casa. Sarò da te fra un quarto d’ora.
Where are you? – I’m still at home. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.
Dove siete?
| When to use this | With a group of people |
| When NOT to use this | With 1 person at a time |
Dove siete?
Where are you? (plural)
In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There is a singular “you” and then there is a plural “you”. If you’re speaking to a group, you’ll need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly, and don’t forget the gender!
For example, you can say…
Ragazzi, dove siete? Non vedo niente con questo buio!
Guys, where are you? I can’t see a thing in this darkness!
Dove sei? – Sono al binario 4. Spicciati, il treno parte fra cinque minuti!
Where are you? – I’m at track 4. Hurry up, the train leaves in five minutes!
Dov’è?
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re NOT familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With friends, family and groups |
When speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei. Use Lei in the written form if you want to be very polite.
Dov’è?
Where are you? (formal)
More commonly, however, you will find these expressions instead:
Lei dov’è?
Where are you? (formal)
Dov’è lei?
Where are you? (formal)
This is because dov’è is the contracted form of dove è, which can also be translated as where is it. To avoid any misunderstanding, the formal subject pronoun Lei is added to the sentence.
Trovarsi
The verb trovarsi literally means to find oneself and can be translated as to be when you’re asking for directions. It’s less common than essere, but still very much used.
Here’s what you would say to ask where are you in Italian using the verb trovarsi:
Dove ti trovi?
Where are you? (informal, singular)
Dove vi trovate?
Where are you? (plural)
Lei dove si trova?
Where are you? (formal)
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