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Various ways to ask “what are you doing” in Chinese

The common expressions

When you want to talk about what someone is doing right now, you need to use the present progressive tense, but how do you do that when verbs in Chinese don’t change at all? In Chinese, we have three words that we add to a sentence to indicate that an action is in progress.

  1. Subject + 正在 + state/action + (呢)
  2. Subject + 在 + state/action + (呢)
  3. Subject + 正 + state/action + 呢
  4. Subject + state/action + 呢

The following expressions emphasize that an action is currently in progress.

你正在干/做什么(呢)?(Nǐ zhèngzài gàn/zuò shénme (ne)?)

      

e.g.

A: 你正在做什么?(Nǐ zhèngzài zuò shénme?) What are you doing?
B: 我正在开会。(Wǒ zhèngzài kāihuì.) I’m in a meeting.

A: 你正在做什么? (Nǐ zhèngzài zuò shénme?) What are you doing right now?
B: 我正在写报告呢。 (Wǒ zhèngzài xiě bàogào ne.) I’m writing a report.

你在干/做什么(呢)? (Nǐ zài gàn/zuò shénme (ne)?)

      

e.g.

A: 你在干什么呢?(Nǐ zài gànshénme ne?) What are you doing?
B: 我在洗衣服呢。(Wǒ zài xǐ yīfú ne.) I’m doing the laundry.

A: 你在看电视吗? (Nǐ zài kàn diànshì ma?) Are you watching TV?
B: 没有,我在听音乐呢。 (Méiyǒu, wǒ zài tīng yīnyuè ne.) No, I’m listening to music.

你正干/做什么呢?(Nǐ zhèng gàn/zuò shénme ne?)

      

e.g.

A:你正做什么呢?(Nǐ zhèng zuò shénme ne?) What are you doing?
B:我正包饺子呢。(Wǒ zhèng bāo jiǎozi ne.) I’m making dumplings.

A:你正做什么呢?你怎么不说话?(Nǐ zhèng zuò shénme ne? Nǐ zěnme bù shuōhuà?) What are you doing? Why aren’t you talking?
B: 我正想问题呢,一时没反应过来。 (Wǒ zhèng xiǎng wèntí ne, yīshí méi fǎnyìng guòlái.) I’m thinking about something, couldn’t respond immediately.

你干/做什么呢? (Nǐ gàn/zuò shénme ne?)

      

e.g.

A: 你干什么呢?(Nǐ gànshénme ne?) What are you doing?
B: 我工作呢。(Wǒ gōngzuò ne.) I’m working.

A: 你干什么呢?看电影呢?(Nǐ gànshénme ne? Kàn diànyǐng ne?) What are you doing? Kàn diànyǐng ne?
B: 没有,我看电视剧呢。 (Méiyǒu, wǒ kàn diànshìjù ne.) No, I’m watching a TV series.

The uses in sentences

You can also ask someone more specifically “Are you doing something” by using a specific verb and adding 吗 at the end instead of 呢, like so: Are you …… ?

你在……吗?(Nǐ zài…… ma?)

      

e.g.

A:你在吃东西吗?(Nǐ zài chī dōngxi ma?) Are you eating?
B:是的,我在吃饺子。(Shì de, wǒ zài chī jiǎozi.) Yes, I’m eating dumplings.

A:你在做运动吗?(Nǐ zài zuò yùndòng ma?) Are you exercising?
B:  没有,我正在休息呢。(Méiyǒu, wǒ zhèngzài xiūxi ne.) No, I’m taking a break.

A: 你在听音乐吗? (Nǐ zài tīng yīnyuè ma?) Are you listening to music?
B: 对,听一首新歌呢。 (Duì, tīng yī shǒu xīngē ne.) Yes, I’m listening to a new song.

There is also a more casual way to ask with a yes-no question.

……呢? (…… ne?)

      

Are you……?

e.g.

A: 散步呢?(Sànbù ne?) Are you taking a walk?
B:是啊,散步呢。(Shì a, sànbù ne.) Yes, I’m walking.

A:看电影呢?(Kàn diànyǐng ne?) Are you watching a movie?
B:不是,我在玩游戏。(Bùshì, wǒ zài wán yóuxì.) No, I’m playing a game.

A: 看剧呢?(Kàn jù ne?) Watching a TV series?
B: 对啊,追新出的热门剧。 (Duì a, zhuī xīn chū de rèmén jù.) Yes, I’m following a new popular series.

The extended phrases to express “what are you doing” in Chinese

There are many common Chinese expressions used in everyday life which actually originate from different dialects.

啥 and 嘛 are both words that mean “what” in some dialects. They’re almost exclusively used in verbal conversations.

你在干嘛呢?/ 你干嘛呢?/干嘛呢? (Nǐ zài gànmá ne?)

      

e.g.

A: 你在干嘛呢?(Nǐ zài gànmá ne?) What are you doing?
B:我在洗碗呢。(Wǒ zài xǐ wǎn ne.) I’m washing the dishes.

A: 干嘛呢?打电话也不接。(Gànmá ne? Dǎ diànhuà yě bù jiē.)What’re you up to? You didn’t answer my call.
B: 不好意思,我在开车,手机静音了。 (Bù hǎo yìsi, wǒ zài kāichē, shǒujī jìngyīn le.)Sorry, I was driving with my phone on silent.

你在干啥呢?/ 你干啥呢?/ 干啥呢?(Nǐ zài gànshá ne?)

      

e.g.

A: 干啥呢?(Gànshá ne?) What are you up to?
B: 学习呢。(Xuéxí ne.) Studying。

A: 你在干啥,这么晚还不睡?(Nǐ zài gànshá, zhème wǎn hái bù shuì?)What are you doing? It’s so late and you’re not sleeping.
B: 我在打游戏呢,马上睡。 (Wǒ zài dǎ yóuxì ne, mǎshàng shuì.)I’m playing a game. I’ll go to bed soon.

You can also ask “What are you busy with?”

你在忙什么? (Nǐ zài máng shénme?)

      

e.g.

A: 你在忙什么?(Nǐ zài máng shénme?) What are you busy with?
B: 我在准备搬家呢。(Wǒ zài zhǔnbèi bānjiā ne.) I’m getting ready to move.

A: 你在忙什么?我打电话你也不接。 (Nǐ zài máng shénme? Wǒ dǎ diànhuà nǐ yě bù jiē.)What are you busy with? You aren’t answering my calls.
B: 我在赶论文,手机静音了。 (Wǒ zài gǎn lùnwén, shǒujī jìngyīn le.)I’m rushing to finish my paper. My phone was on silent.

忙啥呢? (Máng shá ne?)

      

e.g.

A: 忙啥呢?都没见你出来玩。(Máng shá ne? Dōu méi jiàn nǐ chūlái wán.) What are you busy with? I haven’t seen you hang out.
B: 最近准备考试,天天都在复习。(Zuìjìn zhǔnbèi kǎoshì, tiāntiān dōu zài fùxí.) I’m preparing for exams lately; I’ve been reviewing every day.

A: 你忙啥呢?看起来很累的样子。 (Nǐ máng shá ne? Kàn qǐlái hěn lèi de yàngzi.) What are you busy with? You look exhausted.
B: 我在照顾生病的家人,没怎么休息好。 (Wǒ zài zhàogù shēngbìng de jiārén, méi zěnme xiūxi hǎo.) I’m taking care of a sick family member, so I haven’t rested well.

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Comments (2)

  1. This post is really helpful! I’ve always wanted to learn how to ask that in Chinese. Thanks for the clear explanations and examples!

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