¿qué estás haciendo?
In Spanish, "what are you doing?" is translated as ¿qué estás haciendo?
This phrase is used to ask about a person's current activity.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of qué (what), estás (you are) and haciendo (doing).
Which one should you use?
While ¿qué estás haciendo? specifically emphasizes an action happening right now, the form ¿qué haces? can mean both "what are you doing?" and "what do you do?" in the sense of a profession or habit.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb estás changes to está to form the formal version or the third-person singular version (what is he/she/it doing?). To address a group of people, the verb changes to están, forming ¿qué están haciendo? (what are you all doing?).
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, ¿qué haces? is used as a casual greeting similar to 'what's up?' or 'how is it going?' rather than a literal question about a current activity.
- The word haciendo comes from the verb hacer, which is also used to describe the weather, such as saying hace frío for 'it is cold'.
- When asking ¿qué están haciendo? to a group, the tone can shift from a genuine question to a confrontational 'what are you all up to?' depending on the sharpness of the vowels.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué estás haciendo este fin de semana?What are you doing this weekend?
Example conversation
Elena calls Alejandro to see why he is so busy.
- ElenaAlejandro, ¿qué estás haciendo?Alejandro, what are you doing?
- AlejandroEstoy arreglando mi bicicleta.I am fixing my bicycle.
- Elena¡Qué bueno! ¿Necesitas ayuda?That's good! Do you need help?
- AlejandroNo, gracias, ya casi termino.No, thanks, I am almost finished.
