TongTong
Sign in

干吗 (gàn má) — (colloquial) to do what; why

Definition

干吗 (gàn má) is a casual, spoken expression used to ask 'why?' or 'what for?' — never in writing. Pairs with 不 to ask 'why didn't…?', as in 你干吗不…?

verb
(colloquial) to do whatwhy

Examples

  • 干吗？
    Nǐ gàn má ne?
    What are you doing?
  • 干吗？
    Nǐ gàn má bù zǎo diǎn gào sù wǒ?
    Why didn't you tell me earlier?
  • 干吗？
    Tā gàn má zǒng shì bù kāi xīn?
    Why is he always unhappy?

Origin

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 嗎; 吗 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
馬
馬mǎ嗎ma
Same sound today

The traditional form 嗎 pairs 口 (mouth) with 馬, which gives the sound. The simplified 吗 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical 馬.

Open 吗 →
Appears in
1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.