Whence means 'from where' or 'from which place'. It is a very old word, and today it belongs to books, poems, the Bible, old stories and jokes — nobody orders coffee and says whence.

Whence meanswhence的意思是 'from where' or 'from which place'『從哪裡』或『從哪個地方』。 It is a very old word這是個很古老的字 and today it belongs to books, poems, the Bible, old stories and jokes，現在只出現在書、詩、聖經、老故事和玩笑話裡 nobody orders coffee and says whence——沒有人點咖啡的時候會說whence。

You will meet it in two jobs. As a question: 'Whence came this noise?' means 'Where did this noise come from?' As a joining word inside a sentence: 'He returned to the village whence he came' means 'the village that he came from'. It also stretches beyond real places to sources and causes: 'a rumour, whence all the trouble began' — meaning 'and from that the trouble began'.

You will meet it in two jobs它有兩種用法。 As a question第一種是問句 'Whence came this noise?' means 'Where did this noise come from?'：『Whence came this noise?』意思就是『這個聲音是從哪裡來的？』 As a joining word inside a sentence第二種是句子裡的連接詞 'He returned to the village whence he came' means 'the village that he came from'：『He returned to the village whence he came』意思是『他回到他當初來的那個村子』。 It also stretches beyond real places to sources and causes它還可以從實際的地方延伸到來源或原因 'a rumour, whence all the trouble began'，像是『a rumour, whence all the trouble began』 meaning 'and from that the trouble began'，意思是『麻煩就是從那裡開始的』。

Modern writers use it deliberately, for an old or grand or gently funny flavour, and it is common in the fixed phrase 'return whence you came'. Because whence already contains 'from', careful old writers would never say 'from whence' — but Shakespeare and the King James Bible both do ('from whence cometh my help'), so it is not really an error, just something teachers argue about.

Modern writers use it deliberately現代作家有時會刻意用它 for an old or grand or gently funny flavour，營造一種古老、莊嚴，或帶點幽默的味道 and it is common in the fixed phrase 'return whence you came'，常見的固定用法是『return whence you came（回到你原本來的地方）』。 Because whence already contains 'from'因為whence本身就已經包含『from』的意思 careful old writers would never say 'from whence'，講究的老派作家不會說『from whence』 but Shakespeare and the King James Bible both do——但莎士比亞和欽定版聖經都這樣寫 ('from whence cometh my help')（『from whence cometh my help』） so it is not really an error, just something teachers argue about，所以這其實不算真的錯，只是老師們會爭論的一點。

For your own writing, plain 'where … from' is almost always the better choice; you need whence mainly for reading.

For your own writing如果是你自己要寫 plain 'where … from' is almost always the better choice，簡單的『where…from』幾乎都是比較好的選擇 you need whence mainly for reading；whence主要是讀的時候用得到。