Where did you come from?

[Xixi Luo]

1. Where did you come from?
2. Where do you come from?
3. Don't forget where you came from.
4. Don't forget where you come from.
I know all the four sentences are acceptable. My question is whether sentence 1 and 3 comply with grammatical rules more.
To my knowledge, the past tense should be used here.

 

[5jj]

All four sentences are grammatically possible. Whether they are appropriate or not depends on the full context.

'To my knowledge' is not natural.

 

[emsr2d2]

My question is whether sentence 1 and 3 comply with grammatical rules more.

I don't know what you mean by that. Something either complies with (follows) grammatical rules or it doesn't. Something can't comply "more".

 

[Tarheel]

"Where are you from?" is often heard in ordinary speech. Also, "Don't forget where you came from" is heard in some contexts. As for the others, I can't say they are never used, but I certainly wouldn't use them without a good reason to (whatever that reason might be).

 

[Xixi Luo]

I don't know what you mean by that. Something either complies with (follows) grammatical rules or it doesn't. Something can't comply "more".

I meant it was more proper to use sentence 1 and 3 in formal context while sentence 2 and 4 were more common in casual speech.

 

[Xixi Luo]

"

All four sentences are grammatically possible. Whether they are appropriate or not depends on the full context.

'To my knowledge' is not natural.

Is this phrase itself not natural? Or is my usage here not natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

We rarely use it in the positive. We say "Not to my knowledge" to mean "I don't know that". We also say "Not as far as I know" or "Not that I know of".