wǒmen jīntiān hěn wǎn cái huí jiā.

In this sentence, 才 means something like only then, not until, or as late as.

So 很晚才回家 means:

• to go home only when it is very late
• not go home until very late

This is a very common pattern:

• 时间/情况 + 才 + 动作

Examples:

• 他三点才来。 — He didn’t come until 3.
• 我昨天十二点才睡。 — I didn’t go to sleep until 12 yesterday.

So in 我们今天很晚才回家, 才 emphasizes that the action of going home happens late.

Usually, yes, 很 means very, so 很晚 literally means very late.

In this sentence, it most naturally does carry real meaning: very late.

That said, learners often notice that 很 is sometimes used before adjectives even when it does not strongly mean very. For example:

• 他很高。 — He is tall.

In that kind of sentence, 很 can sometimes sound more like a neutral link before an adjective. But here, because 晚 refers to time and combines with 才, 很晚 is best understood as genuinely meaning quite late / very late.

So:

• 晚才回家 = go home late
• 很晚才回家 = go home very late / not until quite late

Mandarin often puts things in this order:

• subject + time + description of time/circumstance + 才 + verb phrase

So here:

• 我们 — subject
• 今天 — time
• 很晚 — how late / the time condition
• 才 — indicates not until
• 回家 — go home

This structure is very natural in Chinese.

A useful way to think of it is:

• We + today + very late + only then + go home

Chinese often builds the sentence by setting the scene first, then giving the action.

Yes, sometimes.

These are all possible depending on context:

• 我们今天很晚才回家。
• 今天我们很晚才回家。

Both are natural.

The difference is mostly emphasis:

• 我们今天很晚才回家 slightly starts with we
• 今天我们很晚才回家 slightly starts with today

What is less natural is putting 今天 too late in the sentence, such as after 才. Time words usually come earlier.

So as a beginner, the safest positions are:

• before the subject sometimes: 今天我们...
• after the subject very often: 我们今天...

By itself, it is not marked clearly for tense in the way English is.

Mandarin does not force you to mark tense every time. A sentence like this can mean different things depending on context:

• We went home very late today
• We are going home very late today
• We will go home very late today

The sentence itself gives:

• who: 我们
• when: 今天
• what happened / happens: 很晚才回家

But whether it is past or future depends on the situation.

If you want to make it clearly future, you might say:

• 我们今天会很晚才回家。
• 我们今天要很晚才回家。

If you want to make it clearly completed/past, context or 了 may help, though you would not always add it directly in this sentence.

Because 了 is not required just because something happened in the past.

English speakers often want to add something to show past tense, but Mandarin works differently. If the time is already clear from context or from a time word like 今天, the sentence can still be complete without 了.

Also, this sentence may describe a schedule or expectation, not only a completed event:

• We’re going home very late today
• We didn’t go home until very late today

Adding 了 changes the feel. For example:

• 我们今天很晚才回家了 is usually not the most natural basic version.

More natural alternatives depend on context. So the lack of 了 is normal.

Good question — these are related but not identical.

• 回 = return / go back
• 回家 = go home
• 回来 = come back

In this sentence, 回家 means return home or go home.

Examples:

• 我回学校。 — I return to school.
• 我回家。 — I go home.
• 我回来。 — I come back.

The difference between 回去 and 回来 depends on direction relative to the speaker:

• 回去 = go back (away from the speaker)
• 回来 = come back (toward the speaker)

So 回家 simply tells you the destination is home.

Yes, you can, but it sounds a bit less natural in many everyday situations.

• 我们今天晚才回家 is understandable: We’re only going home late today
• 我们今天很晚才回家 sounds smoother and more idiomatic if you mean quite late / very late

In real speech, Chinese often likes a degree word before an adjective, especially when the adjective is functioning as a descriptive predicate or part of a description like this.

So while 晚才回家 is possible, 很晚才回家 is the more common and natural choice.

Both relate to lateness, but they are used differently.

晚 usually refers to late in time:

• 很晚回家 — go home very late
• 现在很晚了 — it’s very late now

迟 often means late in the sense of delayed or not on time:

• 迟到了 — be late
• 他来迟了。 — He came late.

So for going home late, 晚 is the normal word.

You would not usually say:

• 我们今天很迟才回家

That sounds unnatural. 很晚才回家 is the standard phrasing.

们 is a plural marker used mainly with pronouns and some nouns referring to people.

So:

• 我 = I / me
• 我们 = we / us

Other examples:

• 你 → 你们 = you (plural)
• 他 → 他们 = they
• 老师们 = teachers

In this sentence, 我们 is simply we.

A useful note: 们 is not used on most ordinary nouns in the same way English uses -s. For example, Chinese does not normally say 书们 for books.

Sometimes, yes, but the meaning becomes broader.

• 回家 = go home
• 回 by itself = return / go back

If the destination is already understood, someone might say just 回 in conversation, but 回家 is clearer and more natural here.

Compare:

• 我们今天很晚才回。 — We won’t return until very late.
  This could mean return to some understood place.
• 我们今天很晚才回家。 — We won’t go home until very late.
  This specifically means home.

So 家 is important if you want the sentence to mean exactly go home.

Yes — very much so.

A very useful pattern is:

• 很 + adjective + 才 + verb

especially with time-related adjectives such as 晚, 早, etc.

Examples:

• 他很晚才睡。 — He doesn’t go to sleep until very late.
• 我很早才知道 is not natural, because 很早才... often clashes logically.
• Better: 我很晚才知道。 — I only found out very late.
• 他们很晚才到。 — They didn’t arrive until very late.

The especially common pattern is:

• 很晚才 + 动作
• 这么晚才 + 动作 = only now / this late before doing something
• 那么晚才 + 动作 = only that late

So this sentence gives you a very reusable structure.