你叫什么名字？
nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What's your name?
How to ask 'What do you do?' in Chinese
你做什么工作？
nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?
What do you do?
Character breakdown
Grammar and structure
This is a question formed with '什么' (what). '你' means 'you', '做' means 'do', '什么' means 'what', and '工作' means 'work/job'.
Variations and politeness
您做什么工作？
nín zuò shénme gōngzuò?
What do you do? (polite) — More polite because it uses 您 (nín), the respectful form of 'you'.
你干什么？
nǐ gàn shénme?
What are you doing? — More casual and informal; can also mean 'What are you up to?' depending on context.
Mini dialogue
A
你好，你做什么工作？
nǐ hǎo, nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?
Hello, what do you do?
B
我是一名教师。你呢？
wǒ shì yī míng jiàoshī. nǐ ne?
I am a teacher. And you?
When to use it
Appropriate
- When meeting someone for the first time and wanting to know their profession.
- In both casual and formal settings as a standard icebreaker.
- When you want to ask about someone's job in a natural, idiomatic way.
Avoid when
- When asking what someone is doing right now (use 你在做什么? instead).
- When you want to ask about someone's job in a very formal written context; use 您从事什么职业? instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'What do you do?' in Chinese?
You say '你做什么工作？' (nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?). It literally means 'What work do you do?'
How do you pronounce '你做什么工作？'?
It is pronounced 'nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?' with the tones: nǐ (3rd tone), zuò (4th tone), shénme (2nd and neutral tone), gōngzuò (1st and 4th tone).
When do you use '你做什么工作？'?
Use it when you want to ask about someone's profession in a casual or formal setting. It's a common icebreaker question.
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