Two different uses of “gànmá”

One of the hardest parts of learning the Chinese language is understanding the various meanings of the same word, and then knowing how and when to throw them into a conversation. Today we will take a look at a simple, yet versatile phrase: "干吗? (gànmá?)"

学习汉语最难的一点就是一个汉字有很多种意思以及在对话中如何使用这些字。今天，我们将看一个简单但是非常通用的词"干吗"。

"干 (gàn)" means "to do" while" 吗 (ma)" is a particle added at the end of sentences to denote a question, as in "你好吗? (nǐhǎoma?)" for "How are you?" and "可以吗? (kěyǐma?)" meaning "Is it ok?"

"干"的英文意思是"to do"，而"吗"则是放在句末表示提问的语气词，例如："你好吗？"、"可以吗？"。

When combined, the characters "干吗? (gànmá?)" can generally take on two meanings. The first usage of "干吗? (gànmá?)" is relatively straightforward, as you might guess from the direct translation of the two characters. It can be used to ask about what someone is doing at the moment or what he or she wants to do.

一般来说，由"干"和"吗"组合构成的新词"干吗"有两种意思。它的第一种意思相对比较直接，就是其字面意思，用于向别人提问他们在某个时刻正在做什么或想做什么。

Examples:

例句：

nǐ zài gànmá?

你在干吗？

What are you doing?

zhèshì wǒde diànnǎo, nǐxiǎng gànmá?

这是我的电脑，你想干吗？

This is my computer, what do you want to do with it?

As you may have previously learned, "什么 (shénme)" is also used to turn a statement into a question. Unlike "吗 (ma)," which is always placed at the end of the sentence, "什么 (shénme)" is placed directly following the verb. "干 (gàn)" can also be used together with "什么 (shénme)," as in the phrase "What's he doing?" "他在干什么? (Tā zài gàn shénme)?" which has the same meaning as "他在干吗 (Tā zài gànmá)?"

你之前可能已经学过用"什么"将陈述句变成问句。"什么"紧跟动词之后，而"吗"则通常置于句末，"干"也可与"什么"连用，构成"干什么"，其意思和"干吗"一致。

Now let's take a look at how to use the phrase "干吗? (gànmá)".

现在，我们来看一下如何使用"干吗"。

Example:

例句：

nǐ gànmá chuān zhème duō?

你干吗穿这么多？

Why are you wearing so much clothing?

Zhāng Míng: nǐ gànmá bù gēn wǒ yìqǐ chīfàn?

张明：你干吗不跟我一起吃饭？

Zhang Ming: Why don't you have dinner with me?

Líng Ling: wǒ yào qù yīyuàn kàn wǒ nǎinai.

玲玲：我要去_医院看我奶奶。

Ling Ling: I have to go to the hospital to visit my grandma.

Translated from: echineselearning

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