你今天忙吗？

Learning Chinese: How to Ask "Are You Busy Today?" in Chinese

Chinese Characters: 你今天忙吗？
Pinyin: Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?
Pronunciation: ni3 jin1 tian1 mang2 ma5
English Translation: Are you busy today?

Usage:

"你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)" is a common way to ask someone if they are busy today in Chinese. It can be used in both formal and informal settings.

Example:

Chinese: 你今天忙吗？我想请你吃晚饭。
Pinyin: Nǐ jīntiān máng ma? Wǒ xiǎng qǐng nǐ chī wǎnfàn.
English: Are you busy today? I'd like to invite you to dinner.

Variations:

There are a few variations of "你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)" that you may hear:

你最近忙不忙？(Nǐ zuìjìn máng bù máng?) - This variation means "Are you busy recently?" and is also commonly used.
你今天有空吗？(Nǐ jīntiān yǒu kòng ma?) - This variation means "Are you free today?" and is more direct.

Tips for Learning:

Practice saying "你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)" out loud to improve your pronunciation.
Listen to native Chinese speakers asking "Are you busy today?" to get a sense of the natural rhythm and intonation.
Use "你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)" in your daily conversations to practice using it in context.

Additional Notes:

"你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)" is typically used when you want to ask someone if they are available to do something with you.
If you want to ask someone if they are generally busy, you can say "你平时忙吗？(Nǐ píngshí máng ma?)", which means "Are you usually busy?"
To respond to "你今天忙吗？(Nǐ jīntiān máng ma?)", you can say "忙 (máng)", which means "yes, I'm busy", or "不忙 (bù máng)", which means "no, I'm not busy".