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幹嘛

简干嘛 · 繁幹嘛

Mandarin · pinyin gàn má

what are you doing?
whatever for?
why on earth?

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Characters in this entry

幹: Look up this written character
嘛: ma · final exclamatory particle
干: gàn · oppose, offend; invade; dried

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · gan4 ma2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

幹嘛 · find source passages ↗ · 干嘛 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb · Etymology 1

(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 幹嗎 /干吗 (“what is someone doing; what is up”)

adv · Etymology 1

(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 幹嗎 /干吗 (“why, whatever for”)

verb · Etymology 2

(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 幹嗎 /干吗 (gàn ma, “to do + question particle”)
(vulgar) alternative form of 幹嗎 /干吗 (gàn ma, “to fuck + question particle”)
幹／干 (gàn, “to do”) + 嘛 (ma, “particle in declarative sentences indicating obviousness or hope”)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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