Remember that 吗 ma is pronounced with a neutral tone, and both the character and the pinyin are different from 嘛 má. You can follow the question with the particle 吗 ma to turn the sentence into a yes/no question, meaning “Do you have any plans?” I’m going to visit my grandma in the hospital tomorrow. To answer, you can simply respond by saying what you are going to do (without using 在 zài or 正在 zhèngzài): The Chinese word 安排 ānpái means “schedule,” “plan,” or “arrangement.” The phrase 你有什么安排 nǐ yǒu shénme ānpái means “What’s your schedule?” or “What plans do you have?” For example: Since there is no conjugation of verbs in the Chinese language, you only need to add a word referring to the time to ask and answer questions like “What are you doing tomorrow?”, “Are you going to the party next week?” and “What are you doing today?”. There are no grammatical markers of tense in Chinese instead, Chinese relies on markers of aspect to communicate information about when an action takes place. How to say “Do you have any plans?” in Chinese Though you’re unlikely to find the phrase in a textbook, it’s used every day by people in China, as in the following example: 你干啥呢 nǐ gàn shá ne is a casual way to ask “What are you doing?” in Chinese. The Chinese character 啥 shá is used as a more colloquial form of 什么 shénme, meaning “what?” Remember to use 干嘛 gànmá only in casual situations, or be prepared for an angry look–or worse. What are you doing looking at my phone? (or: “How dare you look at my phone!”)Įven when 干嘛 gànmá is used negatively, it’s best to follow the phrase with 呢 ne to soften the tone. This expression often carries a negative tone and may be used to express anger, as in the following example: In casual conversation, it’s acceptable to drop the 在 zài and say simply 你干嘛呢 nǐ gànmá ne or 干嘛呢你 gànmá ne nǐ, to ask, “What are you doing?” Both are correct, but 干嘛呢你 gànmá ne nǐ sounds more natural. Why is she wearing a sweater? It’s over thirty degrees outside!Īdding the 呢 particle at the end helps to soften the tone: Tā gànmá chuānzhe máoyī? Wàimiàn chāoguò sānshí dù a. Using 干嘛 gànmá by itself is more akin to saying “Why on earth?” or “What do you think you are doing?” in English, as in the following examples: This is because 干嘛 gànmá has two meanings in Chinese. While it’s not wrong to say simply 你在干嘛 nǐ zài gànmá, it can sound a little rude. You can use the colloquial expression 你在干嘛呢 nǐ zài gànmá ne to ask “What are you doing?” when talking to a close friend. Lily, what are you doing? We’re going to be late. Lìlì, nǐ zài gàn shénme? Wǒmen yào chídàole. Depending on the situation, 你在干什么 nǐ zài gàn shénme can sound more like questioning or interrogating rather than merely asking, as in the following sentence: The letter 干 gàn has a harsher tone than 做 zuò. Where are you? We are all waiting for you. You can use 在 zài when answering questions both about said location and what you are doing, as in the following examples: In contrast, 正在 zhèngzài refers only to when an action is happening. 在 z ài carries two meanings, determining both location and time. It’s like asking, “What are you doing now?”. The words 正在 zhèngzài and 在 zài are more or less interchangeable here, though 正在 places more emphasis on the fact that the action is in progress at this moment. A common way to say “What are you doing?” in daily life is 你在做什么 nǐ zài zuò shénme. Many people in China will drop 正 zhèng when asking questions in the present continuous form. You used 正在 zhèngzài to form the equivalent of the English present continuous tense in Chinese: 正在 zhèngzài is an auxiliary verb used to describe an action that is ongoing or in progress. It is the most formal way to say “What are you doing?” in Chinese. If you learn Chinese at a school or university, you’ll probably learn 你正在做什么 nǐ zhèngzài zuò shénme first. Provided you know your pronouns, you only need to learn a few auxiliary verbs and phrases, then swap out the pronoun to say, “What is she doing?” “What are they doing?” or even “What am I doing?” in Chinese. However, the good news is that it’s one of the most simple ones in terms of grammar. Mandarin Chinese, alongside Japanese, Korean, and Arabic, is generally regarded as one of the most challenging foreign languages for native English speakers. 你打算做什么 – Nǐ dǎsuan zuò shénme 6 ways to say “What are you doing?” in Chinese
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