How to ask a stranger "where is X"
Say you want to ask someone where the subway or bathroom is, which is preferred?:

X 어디에요?
X 어디 있어요?

Both are formal, the second one is more formal I think.

So which one would you use for a complete stranger or a waiter etc?

Question

How to ask a stranger "where is X"
Say you want to ask someone where the subway or bathroom is, which is preferred?:

X 어디에요?
X 어디 있어요?

Both are formal, the second one is more formal I think.

So which one would you use for a complete stranger or a waiter etc?

Answer

u can use both of them but before u ask, i advise u to say 'excuse me' in Korean first like this
,'죄송한데요~' ×어디에 있어요?
or say 죄송한데요~×어디에요?

Answer

I know but in this case the meaning is similar, so I just wanted to know if one would be preferred over the other.
For example, if you ask someone "어디에 있어요 지금?" It can come of more demanding like "what exact location are you at" versus if you just ask "어디에요 지금?".
But thanks for the input anyways

Answer

Actually, those are two different verbs: 이다 in the first and 있다 in the second. You can use 이다 when you are asking what place (where) somebody is. But usually, 있다 is used with 어디. But I'd wait for a native's answer. :)