Meaning of 干吗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2]
How to use 干吗
干吗 is a casual spoken way to ask "what are you doing?" or "why?" It is a shorter, more relaxed form of 干什么 (gàn shénme). Example: 你干吗不去？(Nǐ gànmá bú qù?) Why aren't you going?
干 (gàn) means to do, and 吗 (ma) is the question particle, so 干吗 is literally "do what?" Picture someone asking "doing what?" with a raised eyebrow.
Common mistake: Learners often read 干 as gān (dry) here, as in 干净 (gānjìng), but in 干吗 it is fourth tone gàn. Also, 吗 here is said as má, not the neutral ma of a yes or no question.
干吗 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
干 gān · dry · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
吗 ma · question particle for "yes-no" questions · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 干吗.
| 干什么 | gàn shénme | what are you doing?; what's he up to? |
| 干净 | gānjìng | clean; neat |
| 干杯 | gānbēi | to drink a toast; Cheers! (proposing a toast) |
| 干活儿 | gànhuór | erhua variant of 幹活|干活[gan4 huo2] |
| 能干 | nénggàn | capable; competent |
| 饼干 | bǐnggān | biscuit; cracker; cookie |
| 干脆 | gāncuì | candid; direct and to the point |
| 干扰 | gānrǎo | to disturb; to interfere |
| 干预 | gānyù | to meddle; to intervene |
| 干涉 | gānshè | to interfere; to meddle |
| 干燥 | gānzào | (of weather, climate, soil etc) dry; arid; (of skin, mouth etc) dry |
| 干旱 | gānhàn | drought; (of land, climate etc) arid; dry |
Questions about 干吗
What does 干吗 mean?
干吗 (gànmá) means "variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2]" and is used as a pronoun.
How do you write 干吗?
干吗 is made of 2 characters: 干 (3 strokes), 吗 (6 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 干吗 an HSK word?
Yes. 干吗 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 干吗 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 干吗 is written 幹嗎.
What is the difference between 干吗 and 干嘛?
They mean the same thing and are pronounced the same, gànmá. 干嘛 is very common in casual writing and texting. 干吗 is the form listed in many textbooks.
Can 干吗 sound rude?
It can. 你干吗？(Nǐ gànmá?) said sharply can mean "What do you think you're doing?" With friends in a light tone it is fine, but in polite settings 为什么 (wèishénme) or 做什么 (zuò shénme) is safer.