干什么
gànshénmo · HSK 1
do something
❓ 干 (do) + 什么 (what) = do what / what are you doing
干 means 'do/work', 什么 means 'what'. Literally 'do what?' — a casual way to ask what someone is doing or what they want. Common colloquial phrase.
干 — pictograph of a forked weapon/shield
干 originally depicted a forked wooden weapon or shield used in ancient warfare, giving the early sense of 'to offend' or 'to oppose.' Over time it took on extended meanings like 'to concern' and 'trunk/stem.' In modern simplified Chinese it also absorbed 乾 (dry) and 幹 (to do; trunk), so one character now covers several unrelated words.