tā xiǎng dúchàng, dànshì zǒngshì pǎodiào.

In spoken Mandarin, 她 (she), 他 (he), and 它 (it) are all pronounced tā in the first tone. You usually tell which one is meant from context.

In writing, the characters are different:

• 她 = she
• 他 = he
• 它 = it

So in this sentence, you know it is she because the written character is 她.

Here, 想 means want to.

想 can have more than one meaning in Mandarin:

• 想 + verb = want to do something
  
  • 想独唱 = want to sing solo
• 想 + noun/pronoun = miss someone / think about someone
• 想 + clause = think / suppose

So in 她想独唱, 想 is followed by the verb 独唱, so it means wants to.

独唱 means to sing solo or a solo vocal performance.

It can function as:

• a verb: 她想独唱 = she wants to sing solo
• sometimes a noun: 这是她的独唱 = this is her solo

It is made up of:

• 独 = alone, single
• 唱 = sing

So the idea is sing alone / perform a solo.

In Mandarin, verbs can often follow each other directly without a separate word for to.

So:

• 想独唱 = want sing solo
• natural English = want to sing solo

This is very common in Chinese:

• 想去 = want to go
• 想学中文 = want to learn Chinese
• 想吃饭 = want to eat

English needs to here, but Mandarin does not.

Yes. 但是 means but / however.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• 她想独唱 = she wants to sing solo
• 但是总是跑调 = but she is always out of tune

So 但是 introduces a contrast, just like but in English.

A shorter, more conversational alternative is 但 or sometimes 可是.

The comma separates the two parts of the sentence:

• 她想独唱
• 但是总是跑调

This makes the contrast clearer and matches the pause you would naturally make when speaking.

Chinese punctuation is used a lot to show sentence rhythm and structure. In this sentence, the comma works very much like an English comma before but.

总是 means always or invariably.

In this sentence, it suggests that whenever she tries, the same problem happens: she goes out of tune.

Compare:

• 总是 = always, every time, with a stronger sense of consistency
• 常常 = often, frequently

So:

• 她总是跑调 = she always goes out of tune
• 她常常跑调 = she often goes out of tune

总是 sounds stronger than 常常.

Because 总是 is an adverb, and adverbs in Mandarin usually come before the verb or verb phrase they modify.

So the normal order is:

subject + adverb + verb

Examples:

• 她总是跑调
• 我常常迟到
• 他已经到了

Putting 总是 before 跑调 is the standard word order.

跑调 means to sing out of tune or go off-key.

Literally:

• 跑 = run, stray away
• 调 = tune, key, pitch

So the image is that the singing wanders away from the correct tune.

It is a fixed expression commonly used when talking about singing. For example:

• 我唱歌老跑调。 = I always sing out of tune.
• 她今天没跑调。 = She didn’t go out of tune today.

In this sentence, 跑调 describes her singing problem.

Here it is pronounced pǎodiào.

The character 调 has more than one pronunciation, including:

• diào
• tiáo

In 跑调, it is diào.

So the full pronunciation is:

• 跑 = pǎo (3rd tone)
• 调 = diào (4th tone)

Together: pǎodiào

It is most commonly used for singing or musical pitch, but it can sometimes be extended more loosely to things that sound off or not in the right key.

For learners, the safest understanding is:

• 跑调 = sing out of tune / be off-key

That is the most common and most useful meaning.

Chinese often omits repeated subjects when they are already clear from context.

So instead of saying:

• 她想独唱，但是她总是跑调。

it is very natural to say:

• 她想独唱，但是总是跑调。

The subject of the second clause is still understood to be 她.

Both versions are grammatical, but omitting the repeated subject often sounds smoother and more natural.

Yes, 她想要独唱 is possible, but it sounds a bit different.

Compare:

• 想 = want to; very common and natural
• 想要 = want; sometimes a little more explicit or emphatic

So:

• 她想独唱 = she wants to sing solo
• 她想要独唱 = she wants to sing solo

In this sentence, 想独唱 is simple and natural.

Yes, it is natural and easy to understand.

The structure is straightforward:

• 她 = subject
• 想独唱 = wants to sing solo
• 但是 = but
• 总是 = always
• 跑调 = sings out of tune / goes off-key

So the whole sentence flows naturally and sounds like something a native speaker could say in everyday conversation.