What Do You Do or What Are You Doing?

 

Today we answer a question from Emad.

Question:

He writes, “I would like to know the difference between what do you do? and what are you doing? When do you use both?” - Emad

Answer:

Dear Emad,

Those are excellent questions. One question is about a person’s work or profession¹, and the other is about what action a person is doing at the moment, or in the near future.

Asking about a profession

We will take the work example first.

Imagine that you meet someone at a party.

The person asks you: ‘What do you do?’

What they mean is: ‘What do you do for a living? Or ‘What is your profession?’

You would answer them by stating the kind of work you do, like this:

“I am a writer,” or “I am a doctor” or “I drive a bus.”

Asking about activities

Now, on to the other question.

Maybe you get a phone call and your friend asks:

“What are you doing?”

They are not asking what you do for a living, but what activity are you doing at that time.

Your answer might be something like this:

“I’m reading² a book. It’s great!”

or

“I’m cooking dinner for the family.”

Activities during a time

Sometimes, the question “What do you do…” may include a day or period³ of time. For example, someone may ask, “What do you do on weekends?” In this case, they are asking what activities you usually do on weekends. They are not asking about your profession.

Here is an example of what you might say:

“I usually take things easy, go out with friends or do other activities, like exercise or go for a run.”

However, when you add a time period to “What are you doing?,” you are asking what activity the person is doing at a specific⁴ time in the near future.

Here is an example.

“What are you doing after work today?”

One might say:

“I am thinking⁵ of going out to dinner. Do you want to come with me?”

And That’s Ask a Teacher!

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

moment – n. a brief period of time; a little while

1 profession   

n.职业，表白，声明，公开宣布

参考例句：

• First of all,you should know what profession suits you.首先，你该知道什么职业适合你。
• He made a profession of friendship to his classmate Mary. 他向他的同学玛丽表白了他的友情。

2 reading   

n.阅读，知识，读物，表演，对法律条文的解释；adj.阅读的

参考例句：

• Children learn reading and writing at school.孩子们在学校学习阅读和写作。
• He finds pleasure in reading.他从阅读中得到乐趣。

3 period   

n.学时，课时；一段时间，时期，周期；句点

参考例句：

• Trade is always good over the Christmas period.圣诞节期间生意一向很好。
• He nursed the company through a difficult period.他帮助公司渡过了一段困难时期。

4 specific   

adj.明确的；具体的；特定的

参考例句：

• The money is to be used for specific purposes.这笔钱有专门用途。
• We haven't fixed a specific date for our meeting.我们会议的具体日期还没有定下来。

5 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。