慢慢學 mànmàn xuéHow to say “What are you up to this weekend?” in Taiwanese Mandarin
zhōumò yào gànmá?
週末要幹嘛？
Word by word
| Syllable | Means |
|---|---|
| zhōumò | weekend |
| yào | going to |
| gànmá | do what |
When to use it
gànmá is the everyday, casual 'do what', and nobody would say the textbook zuò shénme here. Watch the tone: in a different context gànmá can mean 'why?' or even 'what do you want?', so keep it light. The classic reply is that you're doing nothing at all.
What you might hear back
méi gànmá, zài jiā shuǎ fèi.
沒幹嘛，在家耍廢。
“Nothing much, just lazing about at home.”
Learn these properly, free. Study this topic with audio flashcards and a short quiz after every lesson — the phrases are picked for you, most useful first, and come back for review when they're due.
Say this next
| English | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Let's add each other on LINE | jiā ge LINE ba! | 加個LINE吧！ |
| How have you been lately? | zuìjìn hǎo ma? | 最近好嗎？ |
| It's so hot today | jīntiān hǎo rè! | 今天好熱！ |
Part of Greetings & small talk — 32 phrases.