做乜嘢

What for

Level 1Sounds Like zou6 mat1 je5

做乜嘢 (zou6 mat1 je5) has two primary uses in spoken Cantonese: directly asking 'what are you doing?' as a main verb phrase, or asking 'why / what for?' when placed before another action verb. When used pre-verbally, it implies an intentional action by a person and often carries a tone of surprise, impatience, or disapproval.

How It Works

1. Direct Question: 'Doing What?'
When functioning as the main verb phrase of a clause, 做乜嘢 means 'doing what'. Verbal aspect markers such as 緊 (gan2, progressive) or 咗 (zo2, perfective) attach directly inside the phrase between 做 (zou6) and 乜嘢 (mat1 je5):
• 你做緊乜嘢呀？ (What are you doing right now?)
• 佢做咗乜嘢呀？ (What did he/she do?)

2. Pre-verbal Adverb: 'Why / What for?'
When placed before another main verb phrase, 做乜嘢 acts as an interrogative adverb asking 'why' or 'what for'. It explicitly inquires about the motivation behind an action:
• 你做乜嘢唔食飯呀？ (Why aren't you eating?)
Note: In this structure, aspect markers belong on the main verb phrase, never on 做乜嘢.

3. Purpose After Motion Verbs (Serial Verbs)
When 做乜嘢 follows a motion verb (such as 嚟 'come' or 去 'go') and a destination, it asks for the purpose of that journey:
• 你嚟香港做乜嘢呀？ (What did you come to Hong Kong for?)
• 佢去嗰度做乜嘢呀？ (What is he going there to do?)

4. Tone and Nuance
As a pre-verbal adverb, 做乜嘢 is rarely neutral. It frequently implies that the action is unexpected, unnecessary, or annoying ('What on earth are you doing X for?'). To ask 'why' neutrally, use 點解 (dim2 gaai2).

5. Common Spoken Contractions
In quick daily speech, 做乜嘢 contracts to 做咩 (zou6 me1) or 做乜 (zou6 mat1).

Examples (4)

  1. 你做緊乜嘢呀？

    What are you doing right now?

    Word by Word: you do [prog] what-thing [sfp]?

    Here, 做 (zou6) functions as the main verb, taking the progressive marker 緊 (gan2) to ask about a current activity.

  2. 你做乜嘢企喺度呀？

    Why are you standing here?

    Word by Word: you do-what-thing stand at-here [sfp]?

    Placing 做乜嘢 before the verb phrase 企喺度 (kei5 hai2 dou6, stand here) turns it into an adverb asking 'why / what for'.

  3. 佢做乜嘢唔聽我電話呀？

    Why isn't he answering my phone call?

    Word by Word: he do-what-thing not listen my phone [sfp]?

    This pre-verbal usage expresses impatience or mild criticism about someone not answering the phone.

  4. 你做咩唔去呀？

    Why aren't you going?

    Word by Word: you do-what not go [sfp]?

    Demonstrates 做咩 (zou6 me1), the extremely common natural contraction of 做乜嘢 in informal spoken Cantonese.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 做乜嘢 when you want a neutral 'why'.

    Different Meaning做乜嘢咁遲呀？
    點解咁遲呀？

    做乜嘢咁遲呀 is natural and common, but it sounds impatient or annoyed. For a neutral 'why', use 點解 (dim2 gaai2): 點解咁遲呀？

  • Attaching progressive aspect 緊 (gan2) to 做乜嘢 when it is being used pre-verbally as 'why'.

    你做緊乜嘢企喺度呀？
    你做乜嘢企喺度呀？

    When 做乜嘢 acts as a pre-verbal adverb ('why'), aspect markers go on the main verb phrase, not on 做.

  • Mixing up 做乜嘢 and 做嘢.

    Different Meaning我今晚要做乜嘢。
    我今晚要做嘢。

    我今晚要做乜嘢 is a fine question: 'What do I have to do tonight?' 做嘢 (zou6 je5) means 'to work'. Adding the question word 乜 (mat1) turns it into 'do what'.

How It Connects

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做乜嘢Level 1What for

Learn This First

To understand '做乜嘢' (what for/doing what), you first need to know the basic question word for 'what' (乜嘢) and how Cantonese questions maintain standard word order (wh-in-situ) rather than moving the question word to the front.

Words in This Pattern

做乜嘢