Preposition 'din' + country

Pattern

din + country/city = "from" (origin). Example: "Eu sunt din România."

Explanation

To say where you're from in Romanian, use the preposition din followed by the country or city name. Din is a compound of de + în (literally "from in") and signals movement or origin out of a place. It works for nationality (Sunt din Spania), city (Sunt din Cluj), and region (Sunt din Transilvania).

Note that din never takes an article in front of the country: just din România, not din a România or din the România. This is unlike French (de la France) or English (from the United States — though Statele Unite in Romanian does take the article: din Statele Unite). When the country name already includes the article (Statele Unite, Marea Britanie), keep it.

For asking where someone is from, use De unde ești? (literally "from where are you?"). The answer mirrors: Sunt din ___. For asking about a third person: De unde e? / De unde este?

Examples

Common mistakes

• Using de instead of din: De România is wrong; it's din România.
• Adding an article: Don't say din a Italia — just din Italia.
• Forgetting plural countries take the article: din Statele Unite, not din Statele Unite ale Americii (unless being formal).