幹嗎

See also: 干吗

Chinese

Etymology 1

main part of something; to manage; to work
main part of something; to manage; to work; to do; capable; tree trunk; to kill (slang)
 
 (question tag); morphine
trad. (幹嗎) 幹 嗎
simp. (干吗) 干 吗
alternative forms 幹嘛／干嘛
幹麼／干么

幹 (“to do”) + 嗎 (“(dialectal Mandarin, e.g. Tianjin) what”). Colloquial; the formal equivalent in Standard Mandarin is 做什麼 or 幹什麼.

The second element is cognate with 麼 (me) in Standard Mandarin 什麼／什么 (shénme, “what”), and is usually written as 嘛 when writing Tianjin dialect. Dictionaries only consider toneless ma (declarative particle) as the only proper use of 嘛. All other senses, including the dialectally influenced pronunciation of má ("what") and the interrogative particle of ma, are considered incorrect. However, there is much confusion in actual writing, possibly with 幹嘛 being used more commonly for this sense.

Pronunciation

Verb

幹嗎

  1. (colloquial) what is (someone) doing; what is going on
    你現在幹嗎呢？ [MSC, trad.]
    你现在干吗呢？ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ xiànzài gànmá ne? [Pinyin]
    What are you doing now?
  2. (colloquial) what is wrong; what is up
    你幹嗎呀？／你干吗呀？  ―  Nǐ gànmá ya?  ―  What's up with you?

Adverb

幹嗎

  1. (colloquial) why; why on earth; whatever for
    你幹嗎折磨自己啊！ [MSC, trad.]
    你干吗折磨自己啊！ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ gànmá zhémó zìjǐ a! [Pinyin]
    Why are you torturing yourself?
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 為什麼 (“why”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 何為, 何以, 何, 何故, 緣何, 胡, 奚, 曷, 胡為
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 為什麼, 為何, 因何, 何以
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 為什麼, 幹嗎, 幹什麼
Taiwan 為什麼
Harbin 為啥
Malaysia 為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
Singapore 為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
Jilu Mandarin Tianjin 為嘛
Jinan 為麼兒, 為麼, 幹麼兒, 為什麼
Jiaoliao Mandarin Yantai (Muping) 為麼, 為麼個
Central Plains Mandarin Xi'an 為啥, 因啥
Xining 為啥
Xuzhou 為啥, 擁啥, 擁什麼
Lanyin Mandarin Yinchuan 為啥
Lanzhou 為啥
Ürümqi 為啥
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 為啥子, 做啥子
Wuhan 做麼事, 為麼事
Guiyang 為哪樣, 為些哪樣
Guilin 為什麼
Liuzhou 為什麼
Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine) 為什麼
Jianghuai Mandarin Nanjing 為什麼
Yangzhou 甚們事, 做事, 做啥, 為甚們 formal
Hefei 怎搞, 怎搞的
Cantonese Guangzhou 點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 為乜, 為乜為物, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
Hong Kong 點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 做咩, 為乜, 為咩, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因咩解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou) 做乜嘢
Macau 點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 做咩, 為乜, 為乜嘢, 為咩, 因乜事, 因咩事, 咩事幹, 乜事幹
Guangzhou (Panyu) 點解
Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu) 整乜嘢
Guangzhou (Zengcheng) 做乜嘢
Foshan 點解
Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai) 點解
Foshan (Shunde) 為乜嘢
Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming) 因乜嘢, 點解
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 為乜嘢
Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou) 為乜嘢
Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka) 點解
Zhuhai (Doumen) 點解
Jiangmen (Baisha) 點解
Taishan 幾何, 幾解, 做乜, 為乜, 乜頭路
Kaiping (Chikan) 幾解
Enping (Niujiang) 做乜
Dongguan 點解, 做乜嘢, 做乜, 為乜嘢
Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an) 點解
Shenzhen (Dapeng) 點解
Yangjiang 為乜, 為乜事, 做乜, 做乜事, 做乜嘢
Hepu (Lianzhou) 為物底
Qinzhou 為乜嘢, 為乜
Qinzhou (Xiniujiao) 為乜底
Beihai 為乜嘢
Beihai (Nankang) 做乜嘢
Beihai (Yingpan) 為乜底
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô) 做乜嘢, 為乜
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà) 做乜嘢
Fangchenggang (Fangcheng) 做乜嘢, 為乜
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 點解
Singapore (Guangfu) 點解
Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu) 做乜嘢
Móng Cái 點解, 為乜
Yangon (Taishan) 幾解
Gan Nanchang 為什哩
Pingxiang 為咋個, 為咋哩, 做咋個, 做咋哩, 何解
Hakka Meixian 做麼個
Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua) 做乜嘢, 做嘢
Dongguan (Qingxi) 做麼個
Shenzhen (Shatoujiao) 做麼個
Zhongshan (Wuguishan) 仰解, 做乜嘢
Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui) 為乜嘢
Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua) 為麼個
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 做麼個
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 做麼個
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 做麼個
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 做麼個
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 做麼個
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 做麼個
Hong Kong 做麼個
Kuching (Hepo) 做乜個
Jin Taiyuan 為甚, 因為甚, 幹什
Xinzhou 𠰻們
Northern Min Jian'ou 為孰事, 做孰事
Eastern Min Fuzhou 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 做什名, 幹乜勢, 傒勢
Fuzhou (Changle) 傒勢
Fuqing 介計
Yongtai 蔣其
Gutian 做什乇
Fu'an 做乜乇
Ningde 做乇
Shouning 做呢乇
Zhouning 做乜乇
Fuding 做哪乇
Matsu 為什乇, 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 傒勢
Southern Min Xiamen 為什物, 按怎, 物代, 敢咧, 創什物
Quanzhou 按怎, 物代
Jinjiang 為啥物
Zhangzhou 按怎
Zhao'an 為甚物
Dongshan 為甚物
Taipei 為啥物, 是按怎
Penang (Hokkien) 何物事, 做物事, 做物
Singapore (Hokkien) 按怎
Manila (Hokkien) 敢哪, 敢哪誌
Medan (Hokkien) 何物事
Chaozhou 做呢
Shantou 做呢
Shantou (Chaoyang) 做呢
Singapore (Teochew) 做呢
Leizhou 作乜, 因乜
Wenchang 作乜, 因乜, 怎作
Haikou 作乜, 作個乜, 作乜物, 因乜, 因個乜
Singapore (Hainanese) 作乜
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 為乜嘢
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 做門, 做哪門, 為哪門
Waxiang Guzhang (Gaofeng) 為什個
Wu Shanghai 啥體, 為啥, 做啥, 啥講究, 為啥體, 啥個講究, 啥道理, 為啥道理, 啥個路道, 啥個緣故
Shanghai (Chongming) 為何, 做何
Suzhou 為啥, 為點啥, 做啥, 啥體, 為啥體
Danyang 為點高, 做點高
Hangzhou 為啥
Wenzhou 妝乜, 為何呢, 為乜事幹
Jinhua 為淡事幹, 為待西
Xiang Changsha 為麼子, 何解
Xiangtan 奚解
Loudi 嗎介
Shuangfeng 為麼子, 做麼子

Etymology 2

main part of something; to manage; to work
main part of something; to manage; to work; to do; capable; tree trunk; to kill (slang)
 
 (question tag); morphine
trad. (幹嗎) 幹 嗎
simp. (干吗) 干 吗
alternative forms 幹麼／干么

Pronunciation

Verb

幹嗎

  1. 幹 (“to do”) + 嗎 (“question particle”)
    這事你幹嗎？／这事你干吗？  ―  Zhè shì nǐ gàn ma?  ―  Will you do this?
  2. (vulgar) 幹 (“to fuck”) + 嗎 (“question particle”)
  3. alternative form of 幹嘛 (“to do + declarative particle”)
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