What is the correct way to say: "where are you going?"


What is the correct way to say "where are you going?"?

Is it:

> あなたはどこに行きますか

or

> あなたはどこに行くの

Also, can someone please explain that の in "あなたはどこに行くの"?




Both ways are correct, but there are lots of ways of saying "where are you
going" depending on politeness levels etc. You can also replace the `に`
particle with the `へ` particle in many instances, and in fact you can go
without both `に` and `へ` in many informal situations. Often `あなたは` isn't
necessary as it can be determined by context.

In Japanese there isn't any distinction between "where are you going", "where
are you going to go", "where do you go", "where will you go", "where will you
be going" etc, and it's usually determined by context which is meant.

This is by no means a complete list and the explanations may need to be
corrected, but I hope it will give some idea of the different ways of saying
it:

> どこ行くの more informal, omitting `に`
>
> どこに行くのか／どこに行くの informal  
>  
>
>
> どこに行くのかな informal but "softer", "where are you going I wonder?"
>
> どこに行くのかしら feminine version of the above
>
> どこに行くのだろう not strictly male, but I think it's used more by males similar to
> the above
>
> どこに行くのでしょうか a formal version of `どこに行くのだろう`  
>  
>
>
> どこに行くのですか slightly more polite
>
> どこに行くつもりですか／どこに行く予定ですか polite, "where do you intend to go"
>
> どこ行きますか a polite but colloquial form
>
> どこに行きますか polite form
>
> (...et cetera)

