Breakdown of nǐ xiǎng xiànzài qù, háishi wǎnshang qù?
Questions & Answers about nǐ xiǎng xiànzài qù, háishi wǎnshang qù?
Here 想 is a modal verb meaning “would like to / want to (do something).” It does not mean “to think that” in this sentence.
- 想 + V: softer desire or inclination (你想去… “you’d like to go…”).
- 要 + V: stronger intention/plan or necessity (你要去… “you’re going to/you intend to…”).
- 想要 + N: “to want (a noun)” (我想要咖啡).
- Related: 愿意 “willing to,” 打算 “plan to.”
Because this is an “A-or-B” choice question formed with 还是 (háishi). In Mandarin, 还是 is used to present alternatives in a question, so you don’t add 吗. Adding 吗 here would be redundant or awkward.
Compare:
- Choice question: 你想现在去，还是晚上去？
- Yes/no question: 你想现在去吗？ (no alternatives presented)
- Use 还是 in questions to offer a choice: 现在去，还是晚上去？
- Use 或者 in statements: 我们现在去或者晚上去都可以。 Note: In statements, 还是 usually means “still/yet/rather,” not “or” (e.g., 我还是不去 “I still won’t go” / 我们还是晚上去吧 “We’d better go in the evening”).
Time words generally come before the verb phrase in Chinese. So 现在去 and 晚上去 are the natural word order. 去现在 is ungrammatical because 现在 is a time word, not a destination.
- Acceptable variants:
- 你想现在去，还是晚上去？
- 你现在想去，还是晚上想去？ (time before 想去, also fine)
Repetition is common and sounds clean: 你想现在去，还是晚上去？
You can also keep it only once at the end: 你想现在还是晚上去？
Avoid dropping it entirely from one option while keeping the other bare in a way that breaks parallelism, e.g., 你想现在去还是晚上？ sounds incomplete.
- Dropping the subject is fine if context is clear: 想现在去，还是晚上去？
- Dropping 想 changes the meaning from desire to schedule:
- 你现在去，还是晚上去？ = “Are you going now or in the evening?” (focus on plan/time)
- 你想现在去，还是晚上去？ = “Would you like to go now or in the evening?” (focus on preference)
Use 去 when the movement is away from the speaker’s current location or toward a third place. Use 来 when the movement is toward the speaker.
- 你想现在来，还是晚上来？ (come here)
- 你想现在去，还是晚上去？ (go there)
No. Time words like 现在/晚上/今天/明天 function as adverbials on their own. 在晚上去 is unnatural in this context. Use 晚上去 or 现在去.
(在 is common with locations: 在学校; with time, it's used in certain set or formal phrases like 在周末, but not needed here.)
- 还是 is commonly pronounced háishi (the second syllable often gets a light/neutral tone in fluent speech). You may also hear háishì; both occur, but the light tone is very common in conversation.
- 晚上 is wǎnshang (the second syllable often neutral). In Taiwan Mandarin you may hear wǎnshàng.
- Third-tone sandhi: 你想 is pronounced as ní xiǎng (the first 3rd tone becomes a 2nd tone before another 3rd tone).
- 傍晚: around dusk/early evening (roughly 5–7 pm).
- 晚上: evening/night in general (roughly after dusk to bedtime).
- 夜里/夜间: late night/overnight (when people are typically sleeping).
Yes:
- 现在去还是晚上去？ (drop the subject)
- 你想现在还是晚上去？ (move 去 to the end)
- 我们现在去，还是晚上去？ (change the subject to “we”)
- To ask which is better: 你觉得现在去好，还是晚上去好？
Note: 你想不想现在去？ is a yes/no question (want or not), not an A-or-B choice.
- 呢 can soften the tone or sound more reflective: 你想现在去，还是晚上去呢？
- 吧 is not used at the end of this choice question. Instead, you use 还是…吧 to make a suggestion: 我们还是晚上去吧 (“Let’s rather go in the evening” / “We’d better go in the evening”).
No. It reflects a natural pause in speech but is optional in writing. Both are fine:
- 你想现在去，还是晚上去？
- 你想现在去还是晚上去？
The destination (place) is the object of 去 and comes right after it. It can be omitted if context supplies it.
- With destination: 你想现在去学校，还是晚上去学校？
- With one mention: 你想现在去学校，还是晚上去？ (natural in context; the place is understood in the second half)
Use 走 when the meaning is “to leave (this place)” or “to set off,” not “to go to (a place).”
- 你想现在走，还是晚上走？ = leave now or in the evening
- If you’re specifying a destination, use 去: 你想现在去公司，还是晚上去公司？
(走 doesn’t directly take a destination noun the way 去 does; it can take direction complements like 走到…)
- 现在 = “now (current time).”
- 马上 = “immediately/right away,” stronger urgency.
You can refine the timing with particles: - 现在就去 = go right now, immediately.
- 晚上再去 = go later, in the evening (再 indicates a subsequent action).
Yes, parallelism makes A-还是-B questions clearer and more natural. Match time with time, verb with verb, etc. For example:
- Good: 现在去，还是晚上去？
- Also good: 现在还是晚上去？
- Less natural: 现在去，还是晚上？ (second half is missing the verb)