Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǎnshang wǒmen bù kàn diànshì, zhǐ tīng yīnyuè. - In the evening we don’t watch TV, we only listen to music.

晚上我们… makes 晚上 feel more like the topic: “As for the evening, we don’t watch TV, we only listen to music.”
我们晚上… sounds slightly more like the subject 我们 is the starting point: “We, in the evenings, don’t watch TV, only listen to music.”

In everyday speech, both word orders are very natural and interchangeable here.

Why is there no 在 before 晚上? Why not 在晚上我们不看电视…?

You normally do not need 在 before a simple time word like 晚上, 今天, 明天, 周末, etc.

晚上我们不看电视。 ✅
在晚上我们不看电视。 ❌ (sounds unnatural)

在 is usually used before a location (place) or sometimes before a more complex time phrase:

在家看电视 – watch TV at home
在学校听音乐 – listen to music at school
在晚上八点 – at 8 p.m. (possible, but even here the 在 is often dropped in speech)

For plain “in the evening”, use 晚上 alone.

Why is 不 used here instead of 没? What is the difference in 不看 vs 没看?

不 (bù) and 没 (méi) are both negatives, but they are used differently:

不: general, habitual, or future not; also for “don’t / won’t”
没: did not / have not (past or completed actions, often with 有 or aspect)

In this sentence:

晚上我们不看电视 = “In the evenings, we don’t watch TV.” (habitual, general rule)

If you said:

晚上我们没看电视 – “This evening we didn’t watch TV.” (refers to a specific past time)

So here we are talking about what usually happens (a routine), so 不 is correct.

What exactly does 只 mean, and why is it placed before 听 instead of before 音乐?

只 (zhǐ) means “only / just”.

Its usual position is before the verb:

我们只听音乐。 – We only listen to music.

Pattern: Subject + 只 + Verb + Object

This focuses on the action: the only thing we do is “listen”.

You cannot say:

✗ 我们听只音乐。 (ungrammatical)

If you want to focus on the object, Chinese usually still keeps 只 before the verb and lets context show what is “only.” For example:

我们只听音乐，不看电视。 – We only listen to music (and don’t watch TV).

Here, “only” contrasts listening to music with watching TV.

Can I say 我们晚上只听音乐，不看电视 instead? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, you can. Both are natural:

晚上我们不看电视，只听音乐。
晚上我们只听音乐，不看电视。

They express the same basic idea, but the emphasis shifts:

不看电视，只听音乐: first deny watching TV, then say what you do instead.
只听音乐，不看电视: first state the only activity (listening to music), then clarify you don’t watch TV.

Both are fine. In conversation, speakers choose whichever order fits what they want to emphasize first.

Why do we use 看 with 电视 and 听 with 音乐? Could I say 听电视 or 看音乐?

Chinese uses specific verbs that naturally go with certain nouns:

看电视 – watch TV (literally “look at TV”)
听音乐 – listen to music

So:

看电视 ✅
听音乐 ✅

But:

听电视 ❌ (sounds wrong; you watch TV)
看音乐 ❌ (you listen to music)

Just like in English you say “watch TV” but “listen to music,” Mandarin makes similar verb–noun pairings. These collocations should be memorized.

Does 电视 here mean the TV set (the machine) or TV shows? How do I know?

电视 (diànshì) can mean both:

The medium / content – TV programs
The device – the television set

In 看电视, it almost always means “watch TV programs” or simply “watch TV.” Context takes care of it.

If you specifically want to say “TV set” as an object, you might say:

一台电视 – a TV set
电视机 – the TV machine (more clearly the device)

But in 晚上我们不看电视, it’s understood as not watching TV (programs).

Why is it 听音乐 and not something like 听着音乐 or 听音乐的?

听音乐 is the basic verb-object structure: “listen (to) music.”

听着音乐 adds the aspect 着, emphasizing an ongoing state (“listening while something else happens”) – more like “while (we are) listening to music.”
听音乐的 on its own is incomplete; 的 normally turns phrases into modifiers or nouns (“the one(s) who listen(s) to music”, etc.).

For a simple statement of what you do in the evenings, 听音乐 is the most natural and neutral form.

Why is there no 了 in this sentence? How would the meaning change if I said 晚上我们不看电视，只听了音乐?

No 了 is used because the sentence describes a habitual / general situation:

晚上我们不看电视，只听音乐。
→ “In the evenings, we don’t watch TV; we just listen to music.” (routine)

了 often marks a completed action or a change of state. If you say:

晚上我们不看电视，只听了音乐。

it sounds like you are talking about a specific evening (or event) in the past:

“This evening / that evening we didn’t watch TV, we just listened to some music.”

So:

No 了 → general habit / rule.
With 了 → a particular completed instance.

How does 不 affect pronunciation before 看? Is there any tone change?

Yes. 不 (bù) normally has a fourth tone, but it changes (tone sandhi) to second tone (bú) when followed by another fourth-tone syllable.

Since 看 (kàn) is fourth tone:

In isolation: 不 – bù (4th tone)
Before 看: it becomes bú看 in speech (bú kàn)

So the natural spoken form is:

晚上我们不看电视，只听音乐。
Pronounced: wǎnshang wǒmen bú kàn diànshì, zhǐ tīng yīnyuè.

Learners often still write 不看, but say bú kàn.

Can the subject 我们 be dropped? For example: 晚上不看电视，只听音乐。

Yes, you can drop 我们 if it is clear from context who “we” (or “I” / “they”) are.

Chinese often omits subjects when they are understood:

(我们) 晚上不看电视，只听音乐。
晚上不看电视，只听音乐。

Both are grammatical.
Without 我们, it could mean “(we/they/I) don’t watch TV in the evenings, just listen to music.” Context would tell you who is meant.

Why is there a comma (，) between 不看电视 and 只听音乐 instead of 和? Could I say 不看电视和只听音乐?

The comma here functions like a pause and signals a contrast: “not A, (but) only B.”

不看电视，只听音乐。
→ don’t watch TV; only listen to music (instead).

Using 和 (hé, and) connects two things of the same type:

看电视和听音乐 – watch TV and listen to music.

But 不看电视和只听音乐 is awkward and not idiomatic; it mixes a negative and 只 in a way that doesn’t match normal coordination.

For contrast like “not A, only B,” Chinese usually uses:

不A，只B
often with just a comma or sometimes 而是 (but rather) in more formal speech.

Is 晚上 (wǎnshang) the same as “at night”? Could I use 夜里 or 夜晚 instead?

晚上 (wǎnshang) generally means evening / night time, and in everyday speech it often covers what English calls “in the evening / at night.”

Other options:

夜里 (yèli) – more like during the night / at night, often late-night hours.
夜晚 (yèwǎn) – more literary or formal for night / evening.

You could say:

夜里我们不看电视，只听音乐。 – “At night we don’t watch TV, we only listen to music.”

This sounds fine, but suggests later at night rather than early evening.
For a neutral, everyday statement of an evening routine, 晚上 is the most common and natural choice.

Could I say 晚上我们不看电视，只是听音乐? What is the difference between 只 and 只是 here?

You can say both, but there is a nuance:

只听音乐 – “only listen to music” (simple only, very neutral).
只是听音乐 – “just / merely listen to music” (只是 can sound a bit more explanatory or slightly downplaying the action).

In many contexts they overlap, but:

只 usually goes directly before the verb: 只听, 只看, 只吃.
只是 is often used at the start of a clause or before a phrase:
- 我想去，只是没有时间。 – I want to go; it’s just that I have no time.

晚上我们不看电视，只是听音乐 is understandable and not wrong, but 只听音乐 is shorter and more typical here.