Spanish B1.21 Listening Practice: Preposition-First Questions
Listen to a B1 Spanish dialogue about preposition-first questions, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
B1.21
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
24 segments
A short Spanish listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 6: add fronted de and a questions to what you already control, then say one short answer that reuses earlier Spanish instead of starting from a memorized phrase.
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1. Carmen · Teacher
Welcome to today's lesson! I'm your host, Carmen. Today, we're focusing on preposition-first questions in Spanish, specifically using 'de dónde' and 'a dónde'. In Spanish, prepositions never float at the end of a sentence—they always go right at the front!
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2. Diego · Student
Hi Carmen, I'm Diego! This is really helpful because in English I always want to put 'from' or 'to' at the end of the question.
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3. Carmen · Teacher
Let's listen to a short conversation between Álvaro and Lucía to hear how this sounds in natural speech.
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4. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Lucía, disculpa, ¿de dónde eres exactamente?
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5. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Soy de Sevilla, pero cuéntame, ¿a dónde vas con tanta prisa?
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6. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Voy a la estación de autobuses, ¿de dónde viene el autobús de tu hermano?
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7. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Viene de Madrid, pero aún no sabemos a dónde iremos después.
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8. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Entendido, dime a dónde queréis ir y reservo un restaurante.
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9. Carmen · Teacher
Let's break down those five sentences. First, Álvaro asked Lucía: 'Lucía, disculpa, ¿de dónde eres exactamente?'. He uses '¿de dónde eres?' to ask 'where are you from?', placing the preposition 'de' right before 'dónde'.
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10. Diego · Student
So we can never say '¿Dónde eres de?' in Spanish?
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11. Carmen · Teacher
Never! In Spanish, prepositions must always sit directly before the question word.
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12. Carmen · Teacher
In the second sentence, Lucía answered and asked: 'Soy de Sevilla, pero cuéntame, ¿a dónde vas con tanta prisa?'. She uses 'a dónde' to ask where Álvaro is heading.
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13. Diego · Student
How do I choose between using 'de dónde' and 'a dónde'?
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14. Carmen · Teacher
Use 'de dónde' for origin or where someone comes from, and 'a dónde' for destination or movement toward a place.
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15. Carmen · Teacher
Next, Álvaro said: 'Voy a la estación de autobuses, ¿de dónde viene el autobús de tu hermano?'. He uses 'de dónde viene' to ask where the bus is coming from.
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16. Diego · Student
Is 'viene' coming from the verb 'venir'?
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17. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, Diego! 'Viene' is the third-person singular form of 'venir', meaning 'to come'.
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18. Carmen · Teacher
In the fourth sentence, Lucía said: 'Viene de Madrid, pero aún no sabemos a dónde iremos después.'. Notice 'a dónde' used inside a clause: 'a dónde iremos'.
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19. Diego · Student
Does 'a dónde' keep the preposition at the front even when it's an indirect question?
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20. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, absolutely! Whether it's a direct question or an indirect statement, the preposition stays attached to 'dónde'.
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21. Carmen · Teacher
Finally, Álvaro said: 'Entendido, dime a dónde queréis ir y reservo un restaurante.'. He uses the Peninsular 'vosotros' form 'queréis' to ask where Lucía and her brother want to go.
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22. Diego · Student
If Álvaro were asking just Lucía, would he say 'quieres' instead?
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23. Carmen · Teacher
Exactly. He would say 'dime a dónde quieres ir' for the singular 'tú'.
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24. Carmen · Teacher
That wraps up our breakdown for today! Keep listening for fronted prepositions like 'de dónde' and 'a dónde' whenever you practice your Spanish.
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