When do we use “donde” at the beginning of a question and when do we use “a donde?”
For example: the lesson says: “Where are you going?” which is translated in Spanish as “Donde vas tu?”
Another example: the lesson says: “Where is your brother going?” “A donde va tu hermano?”
Can someone please enlighten me?
I would say that both sentences should use “adónde” because the question is really “to where”, and the “a” adds the “to” part. The adónde can be written as one word or as two words, “a dónde”. I think the course asking you for “Dónde vas tú” is either an error, or is giving you an intentionally sloppy/casual/incomplete sentence along the lines of "where ya goin’?
I’m not an expert - I think this is a great question, and I hope you get more replies. Which course is this in?
I agree that “a dónde” is more formal and correct because it means “where” as in destination.
The question is asking your destination/direction/purpose, so you should use “a dónde”.
“Dónde”, without the preposition “a”, is a more general meaning of “where” as in static location, without the sense of motion/direction/destination.
“Dónde vas” is heard, but it is not good grammar, and would be considered informal or sloppy usage.
It is in Spanish A1,lurajane.