Questions & Answers about Wo kommst du eigentlich her?
Why is her at the end of the sentence instead of attached to Wo as Woher?
In spoken German, the question word woher (where from) is very often split into two parts: wo at the beginning of the sentence and her at the end. You could also say Woher kommst du eigentlich?, but Wo kommst du eigentlich her? sounds much more natural and conversational. The her indicates direction toward the speaker.
What does eigentlich add to this sentence? Could I leave it out?
Yes, you can leave it out, but eigentlich makes the question sound softer and more conversational. Literally it means 'actually', but here it works like a filler word (a modal particle) to show genuine, friendly curiosity, similar to saying 'By the way, where are you from?' in English.
Could I use hin instead of her in this sentence?
No, because hin indicates movement away from the speaker, while her indicates movement towards the speaker. Since you are asking where someone originates or comes from (towards your current shared location), you must use her. If you were asking where someone is going, you would use hin, as in Wo gehst du hin? (Where are you going?).
Does the her at the end mean that herkommen is a separable verb?
Yes! When you split woher into wo ... her, the her acts just like a separable prefix for the verb kommen. Because it is a separable prefix, it is pushed to the very end of the sentence. The full infinitive verb is herkommen (to come from or to come here).
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