where? (question)
Direct or indirect questions of location and destination alike — Romanian has no separate "whither".
Unde ești?
Where are you?
Unde mergi?
Where are you going?
#53 · Adverb
unde
In Romanian, unde means “where? (question)”. It’s the #53 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
The Romanian "where" — invariable, rank 53, and the same word for questions (Unde ești?) and relative clauses (orașul unde m-am născut). The learner-critical detail is that Romanian does not distinguish "where" from "where to": Unde mergi? covers both, and direction is added with prepositions like de unde ("from where") and până unde ("how far").
neutralwhere (relative clause)
Links a clause to a place noun; interchangeable with the heavier în care.
casa unde am crescut
the house where I grew up
Stau unde stăteam.
I live where I used to live.
from where / where … from (de unde)
de unde is the standard way to ask origin — including the first question anyone asks a foreigner.
De unde ești?
Where are you from?
De unde știi?
How do you know? (lit. from where)
wherever (oriunde)
The fused form oriunde covers "anywhere / wherever"; bare unde does not.
Mergi oriunde vrei.
Go wherever you want.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top form cover about 100% of everyday use — learn these first.
unde100%
Patterns
unde is invariable and always opens its clause. Direction is not marked on unde itself; it comes from the verb and from any preposition placed before it (de unde, până unde, pe unde).
Unde + verb?
The plain question, covering both location and destination.
Unde stai?
Where do you live?
de unde
Origin — and idiomatically "how come you know".
De unde vii?
Where are you coming from?
pe unde
Route rather than point: "which way, around where".
Pe unde ai mers?
Which way did you go?
noun + unde (relative)
Attaches a clause to a place; a lighter alternative to în care.
restaurantul unde am mâncat
the restaurant where we ate
Examples
Unde este gara?
Where is the train station?
unde - Question word first, verb second — the same order as English, and no auxiliary is added.
De unde ești?
Where are you from?
de unde - The preposition attaches in front, not at the end: never "unde ești de".
Nu știu unde am pus cheile.
I don't know where I put the keys.
unde - Indirect question — the word order stays exactly as in the direct one.
Acesta e satul unde s-a născut bunica.
This is the village where my grandmother was born.
unde - Relative use after a place noun; s-a născut is the reflexive compound past.
De unde știi asta?
How do you know that?
de unde - A very common idiom: Romanian asks "from where do you know", where English asks "how".
Prepositions go in front of unde, never at the end. "Where are you from?" is De unde ești? — an English-style Unde ești din? is not Romanian.
In expressions
Common phrases built around unde — worth learning as whole units.
Unde e?— Where is it?
lit. “where is”
Unde sunt?— Where am I? / Where are they?
lit. “where are”
Unde ești?— Where are you?
lit. “where you-are”
Corpus examples
?
Where are you going?