English has a small family of words built on “where”: where, somewhere, nowhere, elsewhere, anywhere, everywhere, and wherever. French does not build its equivalents the same way, from a single root with different endings. Instead, each meaning is carried by its own separate word or short phrase. This article covers each one with examples.

Where – où

Où is the direct translation of “where,” used in questions and as a connecting word pointing to a place already mentioned.

• Où habites-tu – “Where do you live”
• Où est-ce que tu vas – “Where are you going”
• Où as-tu mis les clés – “Where did you put the keys”
• La ville où je suis né – “The city where I was born”
• Voici la maison où j’ai grandi – “Here is the house where I grew up”

Où also combines with other small words to express related ideas.

• D’où viens-tu – “Where do you come from”
• La ville d’où je viens – “The city I come from”
• Par où dois-je passer – “Which way should I go”
• Là où il y a une volonté, il y a un chemin – “Where there is a will, there is a way”

Somewhere – quelque part

Quelque part means “somewhere,” pointing to a specific but unknown or unnamed place.

• J’ai laissé mon téléphone quelque part – “I left my phone somewhere”
• On se retrouve quelque part en ville – “Let’s meet somewhere in town”
• Il est quelque part dans le jardin – “He is somewhere in the garden”
• As-tu vu mes clés quelque part – “Have you seen my keys anywhere”

That last example shows that quelque part is also the natural choice for “anywhere” inside a question, since English switches to “anywhere” in questions while French keeps quelque part.

Nowhere – nulle part

Nulle part means “nowhere.” Since it works as a negative expression, it is normally used together with ne before the verb, the same way ne…jamais and ne…rien work.

• Je ne le trouve nulle part – “I can’t find it anywhere”
• Il n’est nulle part – “He is nowhere to be found”
• Ce chemin ne mène nulle part – “This path leads nowhere”
• Je ne vais nulle part ce week-end – “I’m not going anywhere this weekend”

This last example also shows that English “not going anywhere” corresponds to French ne…nulle part, not to n’importe où.

A more formal or literary alternative is en aucun endroit – “in no place,” though nulle part is by far the more common choice in everyday French.

Elsewhere – ailleurs

Ailleurs means “elsewhere,” a different place from the one already mentioned.

• Il a trouvé un travail ailleurs – “He found a job elsewhere”
• Allons voir ailleurs – “Let’s go look elsewhere”
• Elle préfère vivre ailleurs – “She prefers to live elsewhere”

Ailleurs also appears in two common fixed expressions with a different meaning, closer to “besides” or “by the way” than to a physical place.

• Par ailleurs – “furthermore” or “besides”
• D’ailleurs – “as a matter of fact” or “besides”

An alternative word for “elsewhere” in its literal sense is autre part, which works much like ailleurs and can often replace it.

• Cherchons autre part – “Let’s look somewhere else”

Anywhere – n’importe où

N’importe où means “anywhere” in the sense of “any place at all, it does not matter which.”

• Tu peux t’asseoir n’importe où – “You can sit anywhere”
• Il dort n’importe où – “He sleeps anywhere”
• Ne laisse pas tes affaires n’importe où – “Don’t leave your things just anywhere”

As covered above, English “anywhere” does not always map to n’importe où. In questions, French uses quelque part, and in negative sentences, French uses nulle part. N’importe où is reserved for the “it doesn’t matter where” sense.

Everywhere – partout

Partout means “everywhere.”

• Il y a des fleurs partout – “There are flowers everywhere”
• On le voit partout – “You see him everywhere”
• J’ai cherché partout – “I looked everywhere”

A more formal or literary alternative is en tout lieu – “in every place,” rarely used in everyday conversation but found in formal or older writing.

Wherever – où que, partout où

English “wherever” has two common French equivalents, depending on meaning.

Où que is used with a form of the verb called the subjunctive, and means “no matter where.”

• Où que tu ailles, je te suivrai – “Wherever you go, I will follow you”
• Où que vous soyez, appelez-moi – “Wherever you are, call me”

Partout où means “everywhere that” and is used when referring to every place where something happens or has happened.

• Partout où j’ai voyagé, j’ai rencontré des gens formidables – “Everywhere I have traveled, I have met wonderful people”
• Partout où il va, il apporte son chien – “Wherever he goes, he brings his dog”

Summary

• Où – “where,” used in questions and to link to a place already named.
• Quelque part – “somewhere,” and also the usual translation of “anywhere” inside a question.
• Nulle part – “nowhere,” used with ne before the verb, and also the usual translation of “anywhere” in a negative sentence.
• Ailleurs – “elsewhere,” with autre part as a close alternative.
• N’importe où – “anywhere” in the sense of “any place, it makes no difference which.”
• Partout – “everywhere,” with the more formal en tout lieu as an alternative.
• Où que and partout où – “wherever,” depending on whether the meaning is “no matter where” or “everywhere that.”