Where do you come from? vs Where are you from?

[Jupiter]

Hi teachers,

I was told that "where do you come from?" is asked for somebody who is expected to come from a foreign country, and "where are you from?" is asked for somebody who is expected to come from somewhere in the speaker's country. But I think both question has the same meaning.

So is there any difference between the two?

Thanks in advance.

Jupiter

[Alan]

Hi Jupiter,

They can both suggest you are asking for the country of origin of the person you are talking to. It very much depends on the context and the situation. If you are talking to someone who is clearly not a native of the country you are in, Where do you come from? would suggest Which country do you come from? If on the other hand you have been talking in general to someone not about their country in particular, you could well ask Where are you from? if the subject happens to come up. In another situation you could be at a business conference and during the break you could be chatting to another delegate from another company. Then the question Where are you from? is asking about the company they come from.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Subjunctive