How to Say ‘Do what?; what to do’ in Simplified Chinese
做什么
zuò shén me
[dzwo shen-muh]
💬 Usage Tip: [什么] stays in place in Chinese, so [做什么] is literally "do what?" The same pattern works elsewhere: [去哪儿？] "go where?", [看哪个科？] "see which department?"
Phrase Breakdown
做
zuò
[dzwo]
to do
A very common verb meaning to perform an action.
现在要做什么？
What do we need to do now?
什么
shén me
[shen-muh]
what; something
Used in questions to ask about things or actions.
你想做什么？
What do you want to do?
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