# 做 / 干 (to do)



## Ana Yelena

More of a confirmation question, because I think I have a vague idea...but can someone confirm the difference betwwen 'zuo4' and 'gan4'. My understanding is zuo4 is to do (for a longtime - like a profession or lifelong goal) and gan4 is to do (now - like an activity). Any thoughts?


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## lmyyyks

To me, as verbs, gan4"幹" is used when expressing a "not precise" idea. I don't heard much usage of this character.
The most common are 
幹甚麼? What's up/what is happening/what is sb doing
幹活 To work(not defined or understood)

As for zuo4"做" is expressing a more precise idea.
Such as
做功課 to do homework
做律師 to be a lawyer
做生意 to do business

Just my poor understanding of Chinese........


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## shivasprogeny

My teachers have said 幹 can also have a negative connotation.  If you walk up to someone and say, “你幹什麽” it can mean, "What the hell are you doing?"


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## Rallada

Hi,

I agree with Shivasprogeny's teachers explanation, "幹" (traditional) or "干" (simplified) tends to be a little negative.

Hence the examples of 
幹活 => to work, but mainly refers to manual labour in the past, you could use it to describe an office job if you wish to liken it to manual labour.
幹案 => to commit a crime
幹掉 => to kill (very colloquial and rough)
幹不幹 => are you going to do it? This usually has a slight implication of forcing someone to do what they don't wish.


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## Ana Yelena

Can someone explain the difference between gàn 干 and zuò 做when saying "to do".
Thanks.
AY


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## LamberWBY

You can say 我不知道该怎么做。 (I don't know how to do it)
But you cannot say 我不知道该怎么干。 干 is usually used in certain phrases.


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## Jacky Zheng

I think 做 is wider than 干， but in some situation, you must say 干，for example ,干活，means work or labour.


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## yotranquilo

when saying 'to do',the both are absolutely the same


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## Geysere

干 is used in certain phrases such as "干什么"  "干活"  "干事"  "我不干了" while 做 is used more generally. We can say "做饭" "做好事" "做作业" "做实验" etc.


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## YML

zuo can have (and frequently does have) connotations of 'make' (做衣服）, gan cannot. 

If you don't know, use zuo. You're less likely to be wrong. Or use 弄。It's slangier but it's pretty catch-all.


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## snowyau

I know it's not an intransitive verb, but I feel 干 can only take on an object with an  abstract meaning, 做 on the other hand, can take either an abstract (maybe not?) or a concrete object. I might be wrong, but using Geysere's examples;

干什么? or 做什么? what are you doing?
我不干了 or 我不做了 I'm not doing it anymore
干活 but NOT 做活 make a living
做饭 but NOT 干饭 make dinner/a meal
做好事 or 干好事 do a good deed (hmm a weird one, but I think the meaning can be slightly different here)
做作业 but NOT 干作业 do homework
做实验 but NOT 干实验 carry out (an) experiment

干 has more of a sense of "laborious" as well, and can be used to exaggerate things... so maybe a little colloquial. Also 把他干了　means "to kill him".

Complicated... but even gets me thinking... why there's a difference that I can't explain! Someone might shed more light on this.


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## Jacky Zheng

做活 is also ok in specific situations.
But I agree with that


snowyau said:


> 干 has more of a sense of "laborious" as well, and can be used to exaggerate things... so maybe a little colloquial. Also 把他干了　means "to kill him".


 
我不干了 means you are complaining and would like to give up doing the work.


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## fffa4lulua

May not be appropriate,
but 干(幹)also has the meaning "to fuck", which is in the same sense with English (as a swearing and sexual language...)


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