What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 뭐 (what), 하고 (doing) and 있어 (to be/exist/progressive marker).
Which one should you use?
The phrase 뭐해? is a shorter and more casual version of 뭐하고 있어? To specify that you mean "right now", you can use 지금 뭐 하고 있어? or the more formal 지금 무슨 일을 하시고 있으세요?
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The level of politeness changes based on the form you choose. 뭐해? is informal and used among close friends or with people younger than you. To make the question polite for people you are not close with or who are older than you, you can use 뭐하고 있어요? by adding the suffix 요 to the end. For highly polite and formal situations, you can use 무엇을 하고 계세요? or 지금 무슨 일을 하시고 있으세요?
How does it change in a sentence?
You can change the politeness of 뭐하고 있어? by adding the suffix 요 to create the polite form 뭐하고 있어요?
How do you pronounce it?
mwohago isseo?
Did you know?
- In many romantic contexts, sending a text that says only 뭐해? is a standard way to signal interest or to check if someone is free to hang out.
- In Korean, the subject 'you' is almost always omitted in 뭐하고 있어? Using the literal word for 'you' 너 can sometimes sound accusatory or overly aggressive depending on the tone.
- In text messaging, Koreans often shorten 뭐해? to just 뭐해 without the question mark or even just the consonant ㅁㅎ to save time.
Examples in context
- 선생님, 무엇을 하고 계세요?Teacher, what are you doing?
- 선생님, 지금 무슨 일을 하시고 있으세요?Teacher, what work are you doing right now?
- 친구야, 뭐해?Hey, friend, what are you doing?
- 형아, 지금 뭐 하고 있어?Hey, bro, what are you doing right now?
- 지금 뭐하고 있어?jigeum mwohago isseo?What are you doing right now?
- 집에서 뭐하고 있어?jibe-seo mwohago isseo?What are you doing at home?
- 너 지금 뭐하고 있어?neo jigeum mwohago isseo?What are you doing now?
Example conversation
Hyunwoo calls Jieun on the phone to check in on her.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo지은아, 지금 뭐하고 있어?jieun-a, jigeum mwohago isseo?Jieun, what are you doing right now?
- 지은 Ji-eun그냥 음악 듣고 있어.geunyang eumak deutgo isseo.I'm just listening to music.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo그렇구나. 나중에 통화하자.geureotguna. najunge tonghwahaja.I see. Let's talk later.
- 지은 Ji-eun응, 그래.eung, geurae.Okay, sure.
