is “Where are you going to?” correct

Question

— Where are you going?
— I'm going to Paris.

vs.

— Where are you going to?
— I'm going to Paris.

I'm pretty sure the first one is correct, but what about the second?

Answer 1

The “to” in “Where are you going to?” sounds superfluous to me just because “Where are you going?” is perfectly fine and I cannot think of any reason to add “to” to it.

The reason why “Where are you going to?” sounds strange is not because the sentence ends with a preposition. For example, there is nothing wrong with the sentence “Who are you talking to?”

Answer 2

It's worth checking out the other preposition threads on the site. I especially like

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3910/prepositions-at-the-end-of-sentence-and-whom

which states ending on a preposition is acceptable usage, and only frowned on because of an over-exertion of Latin rules by grammarians.

Answer 3

Both examples are pretty much acceptable in colloquial speech, though the former avoids the hanging preposition, so is preferable.

I would consider three variants that are:

1. Where are you going?

2. To where are you going? (grammatically correct but a bit redundant)

3. Whither go you? (archaic, but I love how precise and short it is)

Answer 4

Both are correct, "where are you going?" and "where are you going to".

Some questions need a preposition at the end, some do not. For example:

• "How many countries have you been to?" (preposition needed)
• "Where are you going?" (preposition not needed).

Answer 5

Never end a sentence with a preposition, unless you're Winston Churchill. It's occasionally acceptable, but only if the sentence would be horrible if rearranged to avoid it. "Where are you going?" is a fine sentence; the "to" is not needed (either at the beginning or end).

“This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.” ~ Winston Churchill