o dira eng?
The English phrase "what are you doing?" is translated into Sepedi as o dira eng?
o dira eng? is a question used to inquire about the activity a person is currently performing.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, o dira eng? translates to "you do what?" in English.
How does it change in a sentence?
While o dira eng? asks a single person, you can ask a group of people by using the prefix le to say le dira eng?
Did you know?
- The prefix o in o dira eng? is used for the second person singular, but it is also the prefix for the third person singular 'he' or 'she'. Context is the only way to know who is being asked.
- While o dira eng? is a literal inquiry, in a social setting it is often used as a casual greeting similar to 'how is it going?' rather than a literal demand for a list of tasks.
- In Sepedi culture, asking o dira eng? to an elder can sometimes be perceived as an intrusive or even disrespectful way to probe into their private business.
Example conversation
Lesedi finds Katlego in the kitchen.
- LesediKatlego, o dira eng?Katlego, what are you doing?
- KatlegoKe hlwela tee.I am pouring tea.
- LesediO hlwela tee ya go rena?Are you pouring tea for us?
- KatlegoEe, ke e hlwela.Yes, I am pouring it.
