wǒmen wǎnshang shuìjiào yǐqián bú kàn diànyǐng.

Chinese usually puts time expressions before the main verb.

So the structure here is:

• 我们 = we
• 晚上 = at night / in the evening
• 睡觉以前 = before sleeping
• 不看电影 = do not watch movies

A very rough pattern is:

subject + time + another time-related phrase + negation + verb + object

So 晚上 comes before 不看电影, because it sets the time for the whole action.

In this sentence, 以前 means before.

It comes after a word or phrase and makes it into a time reference:

• 睡觉以前 = before sleeping / before going to bed

So here 以前 works a bit like a postposition, because it comes after the thing it relates to.

Compare:

• 吃饭以前 = before eating
• 上课以前 = before class
• 睡觉以前 = before sleeping

Yes. 睡觉前 is very common and often sounds more natural in everyday speech.

So these are both possible:

• 我们晚上睡觉以前不看电影。
• 我们晚上睡觉前不看电影。

Both mean basically the same thing: We don’t watch movies before going to bed at night.

In casual spoken Mandarin, 前 is often shorter and more natural than 以前 in this kind of sentence.

This is a very common question.

Use 不 for:

• habits
• general facts
• present/future negation
• preferences or rules

Use 没 for:

• something that did not happen
• past events
• completed actions not occurring

Here the sentence sounds like a general habit or rule:

• 我们晚上睡觉以前不看电影。 = We don’t watch movies before bed.

If you were talking about one specific past occasion, you would more likely say:

• 我们昨天晚上睡觉以前没看电影。 = We didn’t watch a movie before bed last night.

This is because of tone sandhi.

Normally 不 is fourth tone: bù.

But when 不 comes before another fourth-tone syllable, it changes to second tone:

• 不看 → bú kàn
• 不是 → bú shì
• 不能 → bú néng only if the next tone is fourth? Actually 能 is second tone, so that one stays bù néng

In this sentence:

• 看 is fourth tone: kàn
• so 不看 is pronounced bú kàn

The writing in characters stays 不. Only the pronunciation changes.

It can mean either evening or night, depending on context.

In this sentence, because it is followed by 睡觉以前 (before sleeping), it naturally points to the time at night / in the evening before bed.

So a natural English understanding is:

• at night
• in the evening before going to bed

Chinese time words are often broader than a single English word.

Here 睡觉 is a verb phrase meaning to sleep or to go to bed.

In 睡觉以前, the verb phrase 睡觉 is being used inside a time expression:

• 睡觉以前 = before sleeping

This is very common in Chinese. A verb or verb phrase can come before 前 / 后 / 以前 / 以后 to create expressions like:

• 吃饭前 = before eating
• 下课后 = after class ends
• 回家以后 = after going home

So even though English might use a form like before sleeping, Chinese just uses the verb phrase directly.

You should think of it as a verb-object phrase:

• 看 = watch
• 电影 = movie / film
• 看电影 = watch a movie / watch movies

This is a very common pattern in Chinese:

• 看书 = read a book / read books
• 听音乐 = listen to music
• 打电话 = make a phone call

So 看电影 functions together as the action.

By itself, it most naturally sounds like a general habit, preference, or rule:

• We don’t watch movies before bed.

It does not necessarily mean an absolute never.

If you want to make it stronger, you could say:

• 我们晚上睡觉前从不看电影。 = We never watch movies before bed.

If you want to make it softer, you could say:

• 我们晚上睡觉前一般不看电影。 = We generally don’t watch movies before bed.

So plain 不看 is often understood as a normal general statement.

Yes, it is understandable and grammatical. But many speakers would probably say it a little more compactly as:

• 我们晚上睡觉前不看电影。

This version is smoother because 前 is short and very common in everyday speech.

The original sentence with 以前 is still fine, especially for learners, because it clearly shows the structure before doing something.

Yes, if the subject is already clear from context.

Chinese often drops subjects when they are obvious. So you could say:

• 晚上睡觉前不看电影。

That can mean:

• We don’t watch movies before bed
• Don’t watch movies before bed
• or another context-based meaning

But if you want to clearly say we, then 我们 is helpful.

Chinese usually does not need those extra words.

English often uses forms like:

• before going to bed
• before sleeping
• before we go to sleep

Chinese can say this much more directly:

• 睡觉前
• 睡觉以前

So instead of building a phrase with going or to, Chinese often just uses the verb itself plus a time marker like 前 or 以前.

That is one reason Chinese sentences can look very compact compared with English.