Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒmen néng yìqǐ qù kàn diànyǐng ma?

吗 is a sentence-final particle that turns a statement into a yes–no question. You put it at the very end of the sentence. There’s no word order change or “do-support” like in English. Remove 吗 to get the neutral statement; add 吗 to ask.

Why use 能 here? How is it different from 可以 and 会?

能 (néng): ability or possibility given circumstances (time, traffic, rules). Here it can sound like “Are we able/allowed to…?”
可以 (kěyǐ): permission or what’s acceptable; often feels a bit more like “may/can (is it OK if)…?”
会 (huì): skill or “will” (future likelihood). 我们会一起去看电影吗？ asks “Will we go…?” (about plans), not an invitation/request.
In everyday invitations, native speakers often prefer patterns like 要不要…, 好吗, or …吧 rather than 能/可以.

Where does 一起 go? Can I say “去一起看电影”?

Place 一起 before the verb phrase it modifies: 一起去看电影. Don’t split it as “去一起看电影” in this sentence. Good placements:

我们能一起去看电影吗？ (natural)
我们跟他一起去看电影吗？ (if specifying “with him”) Avoid: 我们能去一起看电影吗？ (awkward in this structure)

Why include 去? Could I just say 看电影?

去 (“to go”) highlights movement to a place to do the activity.

去看电影 = go (somewhere) to watch a movie (cinema is implied).
Without 去, 看电影 is just “watch a movie” (could be at home). Use 来 instead of 去 if the action is toward the speaker’s location (e.g., 来我家看电影).

How would I phrase this more like an invitation rather than asking about ability/permission?

我们一起去看电影吧。 (Let’s go watch a movie.)
一起去看电影，好吗？ (…OK?)
要不要一起去看电影？ (Wanna go watch a movie together?)
我们去看电影怎么样？ (How about we go watch a movie?)

What are natural short answers?

Positive: 能/可以/好啊/行/没问题/走吧！
Negative: 不能/不行/没空/没时间/改天吧。
You can also echo the verb phrase: 可以，一起去。

Can I drop 我们 or 吗?

Dropping the subject is fine if context is clear: 能一起去看电影吗？
Dropping 吗 turns it into a statement. Chinese doesn’t rely on rising intonation alone to mark yes–no questions; use 吗 or an A-not-A form (e.g., 能不能…).

How do I add time or place information without messing up word order?

Typical order: [Time] + [Subject] + [Modal/Adverb like 一起] + [Place or 去 + Place] + [Verb + Object]. Examples:

我们今天晚上能一起去看电影吗？
我们周末能一起去电影院看电影吗？
Using 在: 我们周末能一起在电影院看电影吗？ (focus on being at a place)

How do I explicitly say “with you”?

Use 跟你一起 or 和你一起:

你有空跟我一起去看电影吗？
我们能跟你们一起去看电影吗？
Also, 咱们 (esp. Northern Mandarin) means “we (including you)”: 咱们一起去看电影吧。

Is “我们去看电影吗？” correct?

Grammatically yes, but it usually asks about a plan (“Are we going to watch a movie?”), not a suggestion. For a suggestion, use 吧 or 好吗: 我们去看电影吧 / 我们去看电影，好吗？

What are A-not-A alternatives to using 吗?

我们能不能一起去看电影？
我们可不可以一起去看电影？
If focusing on the action: 你去不去看电影？ / 要不要一起去看电影？
These are very natural.

Does 一起 add anything if I already said 我们?

Yes. 我们 identifies the group. 一起 explicitly emphasizes doing it together.

我们能去看电影吗？ = Can we (as a group) go watch a movie?
我们能一起去看电影吗？ = Can we go watch a movie together? (togetherness emphasized)

Where do negatives go in this sentence?

Negate the modal or the motion verb:

我们不能一起去看电影。
我们不可以一起去看电影。
With potential complement: 我们去不了看电影 (colloquial but less common than simply saying 去不了 or 没法去 in context).

How do I say it if I mean “at home,” not the cinema?

Use 在 to mark location: 我们能一起在家看电影吗？ (No 去 since there’s no movement away.)

What’s the correct pronunciation with tones?

wǒmen néng yìqǐ qù kàn diànyǐng ma
Notes:

吗 is neutral tone.
能 is 2nd tone with an “-ng” nasal ending.
一起 is yì (4) + qǐ (3); it’s a fixed word, not the tone-sandhi variant of “一” before a 4th tone.
电影 is diàn (4) + yǐng (3).

What measure words go with 电影 if I want to count?

A movie (as a work): 一部电影
A screening/showing: 一场电影
Colloquially you’ll also hear: 看个电影 (casual).