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I want to ask the place the person is going when I see him/her packing their bags. Should I say:

"Where are you packing your bags to go?"

Or should I say

"To go where are you packing your bags?"

Are both correct or incorrect? Is there are better way to ask it?

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  • Grammatically, both examples are perfectly valid. But as with What are you peeling onions to cook? or To cook what are you peeling onions?, these are clumsy constructions that most native speakers would avoid like the plague. It's much more natural to just ask Why are you packing your bags? What are you peeling onions for?
    – FumbleFingers
    Aug 19, 2016 at 15:08

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That exact wording, “Where are you packing your bags to go?” would be understood by an English speaker, but isn't 'correct'. If coming from a native speaker, it sounds like they didn't complete the thought before speaking or are taking a short cut.

Taken literally, you're asking where the bags are going, implying without the owner.

To politely ask where someone is going after seen them packing, you could say:

I see you're packing bags, where are you going?

or

Where are you going? You're packing bags.

or casually

What are the bags for? Taking a trip?

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