Greetings! If you’re interested in learning how to say “What are you doing?” in Burmese, you’ve come to the right place. This versatile phrase will come in handy during your conversations with Burmese speakers. In this guide, we’ll cover formal and informal ways to express this question and provide you with useful tips and examples. Let’s dive right in!
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Formal Ways to Say “What Are You Doing?”
If you are addressing someone in a formal setting or person of higher authority, you can use the following phrases:
- “လုပ်လို့ရလား?” (lo pya lo ye lar?) – This is a formal way to ask “What are you doing?” and is suitable for addressing someone with respect, like your boss, a senior colleague, or an elder.
Example: သူငယ်ချင်းအနေနဲ့ လုပ်လို့ရလား? (Thun gay chone ane nay lo pya lo ye lar?) – “What are you doing now, sir/ma’am?”
“၄င်းပြောနေပါသလား?” (yeh nga pyouna par sa lar?) – If you want to be more formal, you can use this phrase to ask “What are you doing?”. It shows even greater respect and is suitable for situations such as formal meetings or addressing authorities.
Example: ကိုယ်ရေးကျယ်နေတာလား။ (Ko yay kyar ne ta lar?) – “What are you doing, sir/ma’am?”
Informal Ways to Say “What Are You Doing?”
If you are in a casual or informal setting with friends, family, or peers, these phrases will be suitable for asking “What are you doing?”.
- “လားလား?” (lar lar?) – This is a simple and commonly used question among friends to ask “What are you doing?”. It’s an informal and friendly way to start a conversation.
Example: အချစ်ကို လားလား? (Achay ko lar lar?) – “What are you doing?”
“လားလားနဲ့?” (lar lar nay?) – By adding “nay” at the end, it becomes more casual. You can use this phrase when talking to friends or individuals of similar age.
Example: ဘာလားလားနဲ့? (Ba lar lar nay?) – “What are you doing, buddy?”
Tips for Using “What Are You Doing?” in Burmese
1. Politeness is crucial in Burmese culture. Always consider the person’s age, position, and the context of the situation when choosing between formal and informal language.
2. To make your question sound more polite and respectful, you can add “လေး” (lei) at the end of the sentence. For example, “လားလားလေး?” (lar lar lei?).
3. Don’t be surprised if Burmese people ask you many personal questions, including “What are you doing?”. It’s their way of showing interest and friendliness.
4. Remember to use the appropriate title or pronoun alongside the question to show respect to the person you’re addressing, such as “အဖောင့်” (aphoun) for sir, or “ဒေါ်လေး” (dawlei) for madam.
Now that you have a better understanding of how to say “What are you doing?” in Burmese, you’re ready to engage in conversations with Burmese speakers. Practice these phrases, use them accordingly, and show respect to the culture and people you interact with. Happy conversations!
