How to Say ‘Were you busy at work today?’ in Simplified Chinese
你今天工作忙吗？
nǐ jīn tiān gōng zuò máng ma
[nee jeen-tyen gong-dzwaw mahng ma]
Phrase Breakdown
你今天
nǐ jīn tiān
you, today
你 (nǐ) means 'you', and 今天 (jīntiān) means 'today'. In Chinese, the time word usually comes right after the subject.
你今天去吗？
Are you going today?
Words in this phrase
你
nǐ
[nee]
you
The informal or neutral word for “you,” suitable for peers or casual conversation.
如果对方和你年纪差不多，可以说“认识你”。
If the other person is about your age, you can say “nice to meet you” with 你.
今天
jīn tiān
[jeen-tyen]
today
The current day; used when talking about what is happening now.
今天有一个很重要的职业活动。
Today there is a very important career event.
工作忙吗？
gōng zuò máng ma
is work busy?
工作 (gōngzuò) means 'work', 忙 (máng) means 'busy', and 吗 (ma) makes it a question.
他工作忙吗？
Is he busy at work?
Words in this phrase
工作
gōng zuò
[gong-dzwaw]
work; job
Refers to employment, tasks, or professional activities.
我很喜欢现在的工作。
I like my current job very much.
忙
máng
[mahng]
busy
忙 means busy. It is commonly used to talk about work, family life, or daily schedule.
最近孩子放假，我特别忙。
Recently the children are on holiday, so I’m especially busy.
吗
ma
[ma]
question particle
A sentence-final particle used to turn a statement into a yes-no question.
你是第一次来吗？这里的“吗”表示提问。
Is this your first time here? Here, 吗 marks a question.
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