oye, ¿qué haces?
The English phrase "hey, wyd?" can be translated into Spanish as oye, ¿qué haces?
This phrase is an informal greeting often used in text messaging to ask someone what they are doing at the current moment.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of oye, which means "listen" or "hey" and ¿qué haces?, which means "what are you doing?"
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
oye, ¿qué haces? is an informal phrase used with friends or people you know well. The use of the pronoun tú is implied when addressing someone informally.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use the more formal usted version of this question, change haces to hace to form ¿qué hace?
When do people say it?
A common response to this question is Nada, ¿y tú?, which means "Nothing and you?"
Did you know?
- In text messaging, Spanish speakers often replace the phrase with the slang ¿qué onda?, which literally translates to 'what wave?'
- In Spain, if you want to sound even more casual than ¿qué haces?, you might hear people ask ¿qué cuentas?, which literally translates to 'what do you count?'
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, instead of using oye to get someone's attention, people frequently use mira, which literally means 'look'.
Examples in context
- ¡Hola! ¿Qué haces?Hello! What are you doing?
- ¿Qué estás haciendo?What are you doing?
- Oye, ¿en qué andas?Hey, what are you up to?
Example conversation
Elena is texting Mateo on a Saturday afternoon.
- ElenaOye, ¿qué haces?Hey, wyd?
- MateoNada especial, ¿y tú?Nothing special, and you?
- ElenaSolo veo una película.Just watching a movie.
- Mateo¡Qué bien, Elena!That's nice, Elena!
