I found that that form of phrase is used quite often. I thought it could be read as "What are you being .... for?". But I'm still confused about the use of '没事' here and how to properly put it in English.
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Can you give some examples on the structure “没事是…做什?"? I can't get any in mind.– danAug 19, 2017 at 1:31
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没事说那么恶心的话做什么? It seems 是 isn't a fixed part in the structure....– Fai91Aug 19, 2017 at 2:56
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3 Answers
Do you mean “没事…做什?" If it is the case, then 没事 is short for '没事要做 (without thing that has to be done); or 没事發生(nothing has happened)
没事 means 'for no reason' or 'with no purpose' in this structure.
For example:
"没事回來做什?" (for no reason, come back for what?/ why come back for no reason?)
"没事去看醫生做什?" (for no reason, go to see the doctor for what?/ why go see the doctor for no reason?)
It should be' 没事...作什', but '没事...做什?' is also valid because 做 is the modern counterpart of 作 in classical writting for the verb 'to do'
I guess it's a bit akin to, the good old:
the devil will find work for idle hands to do
没事 here means exactly what you probably think it means.
MDBG lists one definition as:
to have nothing to do
In your above question the 没事 basically acts as, 'don't you have anything better to do than to....', 'are you so idle as to...', etc. -or- as you put it What are you being .... for?
'没事‘ = 'everything is ok' is this case. ‘做什么’ equates to 'why' here I think.
没事说那么恶心的话做什么?
Everything is fine, why are you uttering such profanities?
