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So I have this sentence:

> [東京]{とうきょう}へ[何]{なに}しに[行]{い}くの？

The translation for this is "What are you going to Tokyo for?"

But as I understand it へ means "to", and 何しに行く means "What are you going to
do?" So it should mean, "What are you going to do to Tokyo?"

But why does it mean "What are you going to Tokyo for?"?

Also how do you say "What are you going to do to Tokyo?" in Japanese?
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2023-08-02T02:56:40.540
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question
grammar particles
Does へ in 東京へ何しに行くの？ mean "to"?
`masu-stem + に + motion verb` is a construction to mark a purpose. Whenever
you see this set, you need to notice it's about a purpose of
going/coming/visiting/traveling/etc.

  * えいがを み **に** いく  
to go in order to watch a movie

  * ゲームを し **に** くる  
to come in order to play a game

  * にほんへ すしを たべ **に** むかう  
to head to Japan in order to eat sushi

なにし **に** いく has this pattern, too because し is a masu-stem of する and いく is a
motion verb. A very literal translation of なにしにいく is "to go in order to do
WHAT". You can get this by replacing a concrete object with なに ("what"). If
you add とうきょうへ, you just get "to go to Tokyo in order to do WHAT".

  * なにしに いくの？： Do you go in order to do WHAT? → What are you going for?
  * **とうきょうへ** なにしに いくの？: Do you go **to Tokyo** in order to do WHAT? → What are you going to Tokyo for?
  * とうきょうへ さくらを みに いく。: I go to Tokyo in order to watch cherry blossoms.

> how do you say "What are you going to do to Tokyo?"

If this is a question where a response like "I'll drop bombs" is expected, it
would be "とうきょうに(は) なに(を) するの？"
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2023-08-02T11:04:33.157
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answer
Let's brake up your sentence word for word and translate it into English.

"nani shi ni iku"

⇩⇩

"what do there going" (word-for-word)

⇩⇩

"What are you going there to do" (Rearranged into English)

⇩⇩

"What are you going there for?" (Translated to slightly more colloquial
English)

*し is the stem of する、so think of it as "to do"
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2023-08-02T07:39:33.027
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answer