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Do you know how to use the words ONDE and AONDE?
Many Brazilians use these words as if they were synonymous, but they have different meanings, and the explanation is very simple.
The letter A in the word AONDE is a preposition: AONDE (where to) means PARA ONDE (where to). If you remember that AONDE means WHERE TO, you will never misuse this word.
I’ll give you some examples with each one of these words.
ONDE:
1. The word ONDE (where) is used to talk about location, but it doesn’t indicate movement. You can replace the word ONDE with “em que lugar” (in what location).
Onde você está? (Where are you?) / Em que lugar você está? (What location are you in?)
Onde você mora? (Where do you live?) / Em que lugar você mora? (What location do you live in?)
Onde fica o restaurante? (Where is the restaurant?) / Em que lugar fica o restaurante? (Where is the restaurant located?
2. With the verbs ESTAR (to be) and MORAR (to live), we usually use the word ONDE (where).
Onde está minha caneta? (Where is my pen?)
Onde ela mora? (Where does she live?)
3. We also use the word ONDE (where) to ask someone’s origin:
De onde você é? (Where are you from?)
AONDE:
1. The word AONDE indicates direction or movement from one place to another. You can replace the word AONDE with “para onde” (where to), or “para que lugar” (to what place), or “a que lugar” (to what place).
Aonde você vai? (Where are you going?) / Para onde você vai? (Where are you going?)
Para que lugar você vai? (What place are you going to?) / A que lugar você vai? (What place are you going to?)
2. With the verb IR (to go), we usually use the word AONDE or PARA ONDE (where to).
Aonde ela foi? Para onde ela foi? (Where did she go? )
Aonde eles foram? Para onde eles foram? (Where did they go? )
Since many Brazilians use the words ONDE and AONDE as if they were synonymous, there is also the expression “DAONDE,” which is used instead of DE ONDE (where from).
The word DAONDE doesn’t actually exist in the dictionary, and the contraction DE + AONDE (from + where to) doesn’t make sense, but this word is commonly used in Brazil, especially to express surprise.
For example:
De onde você tirou essa ideia? ( Where did this idea come from?)
Daonde você tirou essa ideia? (Where did this idea come from?)
To summarize:
The word ONDE means EM QUE LUGAR (IN WHAT PLACE).
The word AONDE means PARA QUE LUGAR (TO WHAT PLACE)
DE ONDE means DE QUE LUGAR (FROM WHAT PLACE).
That’s it, guys! Now you know how to use the words ONDE and AONDE.
Now it’s homework time. Write a comment below using these two words. Write one sentence with the word ONDE and another sentence with the word AONDE to practice.
Até a próxima!
