You could ask what someone is doing to mean many things. Maybe you’re trying to strike up a conversation, or maybe you want to know whether that person is busy or not. You might also ask out of shock if you don’t like what the person is doing. With this in mind, let’s look at some different ways to ask, What are you doing? (Or a colloquial equivalent, Whatcha doin’?) through some example dialogues.
你可以问某人在做什么,这意味着很多事情。也许你想搭讪,或者你想知道那个人是否忙。如果你不喜欢这个人在做什么,你也可能会出于震惊而问他。考虑到这一点,让我们看一些不同的方式来问,你在做什么?或者相当的口语通过一些例子对话。

A: Hey, what are you doing?
A: 嘿,你在干什么?

B: Nothing, why?
B: 没什么,怎么啦?

A: Do you want to come get ice cream with me and Nina?
A: 你想和我和尼娜一起去吃冰淇淋吗?

B: Sure! Where should I meet you?
B: 当然!我该在哪里见你?

In this dialogue, A is asking B what he is doing in order to make sure she can make plans with him. In this kind of situation, you could use these alternatives:
在这段对话中,A问B他在做什么,以确保她能和他一起制定计划。在这种情况下,您可以使用以下备选方案:

What are you up to (right now)? /Are you doing anything (right now)? /Are you busy (right now)? /Are you free (right now)? /Do you have any spare time (right now)? /Do you happen to have any spare time (right now)?
你(现在)在忙什么?/你(现在)在做什么吗?/你(现在)忙吗?/你现在有空吗?/你现在有空余时间吗?/你现在有空余时间吗?

A: Hey, are you doing anything right now?
A: 嘿,你现在有什么事吗?

B: Not really, why? (Notice how the response changes here)
B: 不是,为什么?(注意这里的反应如何变化)

A: Do you want to come get ice cream with me and Nina?
A: 你想和我和尼娜一起去吃冰淇淋吗?

B: Sure! Where should I meet you?
B: 当然!我该在哪里见你?

What is happening?!(Vivian walks into a smoky kitchen and sees Jeff burning food on a pan)
怎么回事?!(薇薇安走进一间烟雾缭绕的厨房,看到杰夫在锅上烧食物)

Vivian: Jeff, what are you doing?!
维维安:杰夫,你在干什么?!

Jeff: Trying to cook. I don’t think it’s working so well.
杰夫:想做饭。我觉得效果不太好。

Vivian: You’re going to trigger the smoke detector!
维维安:你要触发烟雾探测器!

Here, Vivian is asking what Jeff is doing out of shock; she can’t believe what’s happening in front of her. If you’re in Vivian’s position, here are some other reactions you can use:
在这里,薇薇安问杰夫在做什么,因为她不敢相信眼前发生了什么。如果你站在薇薇安的位置上,以下是你可以利用的其他反应:

What’s going on? /What’s going on (in) here? /What is happening (right now)?
怎么回事?/这里发生什么事了?/发生了什么事(现在)?

Since this is a strong response, you could also add some phrases like in the world or the hell (or other expletives as you wish) to these expressions.
因为这是一个强烈的反应,你也可以添加一些短语,如在世界或地狱(或其他咒骂,如你所愿)。

What the heck are you doing? /What the hell is going on? /What in the world is happening?
你到底在干什么?/到底怎么回事?/到底发生了什么事?

Vivian: Jeff, what is going on in here?
维维安:杰夫,这是怎么回事?

Jeff: I’m trying to cook. I don’t think it’s working so well.
杰夫:我在做饭。我觉得效果不太好。

Vivian: You’re going to trigger the smoke detector!
维维安:你要触发烟雾探测器!

What are you up to? In some cases, you might ask what someone is doing to make small talk. Maybe you’re both in the same workplace, you’re studying together, you’re on the phone, etc. (A and B both work in the same office)
你在忙什么?在某些情况下,你可能会问别人在做什么闲聊。也许你们俩在同一个工作场所,一起学习,打电话等等(A和B都在同一个办公室工作)

A: What are you doing right now?
A: 你现在在做什么?

B: Looking through this code to check for bugs. It’s giving me errors left and right.
B: 查看此代码以检查错误。它让我左右为难。

A: That looks tedious. Wanna take a lunch break in a bit?
A: 那看起来很无聊。想休息一下吗?

In this scenario, A asks the question What are you doing? to strike up a small conversation with B. Another common alternative for this is What are you up to?
在这个场景中,A会问你在做什么?另一个常见的选择是你在忙什么?

A: What are you up to right now?
A: 你现在在忙什么?

B: Looking through this code to check for bugs. It’s giving me errors left and right.
B: 查看此代码以检查错误。它让我左右为难。

A: That looks tedious. Wanna take a lunch break in a bit?
A: 那看起来很无聊。想休息一下吗?

Of course, there are many other conversation openers you could use that can apply to more general situations. These are more general questions that will elicit more general responses:
当然,还有很多开场白可以用于其他场合。这些是更一般的问题,会引起更一般的回答:

What’s up? /How’s it going? /What’s going on (with you)? /How are you (doing)? /What are you doing these days? /Let’s take a look at this next dialogue:
怎么了?/进展如何?/(你)怎么了?/你好吗?/这些天你在干什么?/我们来看看下一个对话:

Kenny: Nate! Long time no see!
肯尼:奈特!好久不见!

Nate: I know! Good to see you.
我知道!很高兴见到你。

Kenny: What are you doing these days?
肯尼:这些天你在干什么?

Nate: I’ve been working and taking classes part-time. You?
我一直在兼职工作和上课。你呢?

Here, Kenny runs into Nate and asks What are you doing these days? in order to catch up with him after a long period of not seeing him. This is a common way to do this, but you cannot simply ask What are you doing? That would mean you want to know what someone is doing right at that moment. Instead, Kenny follows with the phrase these days in order to specify that he’s asking about Nate’s current life in general. Here are some alternatives:
在这里,肯尼碰到奈特问你这些天在干什么?为了赶上他很久没见他。这是一种常见的方法,但你不能简单地问你在做什么?那就意味着你想知道某人此时此刻在做什么。取而代之的是,肯尼用这句话来说明他问的是内特目前的生活状况。以下是一些备选方案:

What are you doing lately? /What are you doing with your life? /What are you up to lately? /How is it going these days? /How is it going lately?
你最近在干什么?/你这辈子在干什么?/你最近在忙什么?/最近怎么样?/最近怎么样?

You could also ask any of these questions in the present perfect progressive tense since it describes a continuous state or action up until now.
你也可以用现在完成进行时来问这些问题中的任何一个,因为它描述了到现在为止的一个持续的状态或动作。

What have you been doing lately? /What have you been doing with your life? /What have you been up to lately? /How’s it been going these days? /How’s it been going lately?
你最近在干什么?/你这辈子都在干什么?/你最近在忙什么?/最近怎么样?/最近怎么样?

Kenny: Nate! Long time no see!
肯尼:奈特!好久不见!

Nate: I know! Good to see you.
我知道!很高兴见到你。

Kenny: What have you been up to lately?
肯尼:你最近都在忙什么?

Nate: Working and taking classes part-time. You?
做兼职工作和上课。你呢?

What do you do?
你的工作是什么?

Finally, make sure not to confuse these two questions, for they mean very different things:
最后,请不要混淆这两个问题,因为它们的含义截然不同:

What are you doing? /What do you do?
你在做什么?/你是做什么的?

While we’ve seen all the various usages for the first question, the second question specifically asks about someone’s profession. You could also ask What do you do for a living?
虽然我们已经看到了第一个问题的各种用法,但第二个问题具体地问的是某人的职业。你也可以问你是做什么工作的?

A: What do you do for a living?
A: 你靠什么谋生?

B: I work at a consulting firm. And you? What do you do?
B: 我在一家咨询公司工作。和你?你是做什么的?

A: I’m a professor.
A: 我是教授。

As you can see, it’s a very different kind of question, even though the wording is similar. Be sure to keep that in mind!
正如你所见,这是一个非常不同的问题,尽管措辞相似。一定要记住这一点!