Context: I’m missing a cutting board. So I wrote in our telegram family group: “Wo ist eigentlich unser zweites großes Schneidebrett hin?” (literally: “Where is actually our second big cuttingboard thither?”).
By using the modal particle “eigentlich” I insinuate that something is oddly off and express an emotional state of curiousity and/or mild discontent.
By adding “hin”, I notify that I ask because it is not where it is supposed to be and not because I don’t know where it should be.
Now I ask myself, how would I express this additional information in English?
Edit: Thank you all for your answers! I learned a lot. Just our cutting board is still gone, and probably enjoying it’s freedom somewhere … I suppose.
Are you asking how to express this information in a utilitarian way, as in, how do you convey the information to be understood? Or are you asking how to express it in a poetic way? The use of thither makes me think you’re hoping to express this is a jokingly poetic sense.
In an everyday colloquial way.
The directional particel “hin” is a commonly used word in German without an exact equivalent in English. “thither” is the best approximation I could find, though it’s usage is completely different, of course.