Learn Hardcore Chinese: jīntiān wǒ zhǐ xiǎng zài fángjiān lǐ xiūxi.

Chinese often puts time words (今天, 明天, 现在, etc.) at the very beginning of the sentence, as a sort of “topic”:
- 今天，我只想在房间里休息。 – As for today, I only want to rest in my room.
Placing 今天 after 我 is also very common:
- 我今天只想在房间里休息。 – Today, I only want to rest in my room.

There is no big difference in meaning here; both sound natural in everyday speech. Beginners can treat them as interchangeable in this kind of sentence.

Why is 只 (zhǐ) placed before 想 (xiǎng)? Could I put it somewhere else, like 我想只在房间里休息?

只 is an adverb meaning “only”, and in Chinese it usually goes right before the verb or phrase it limits.

我只想在房间里休息。
Literally: I only-want to-rest in the room.
→ “The only thing I want (to do) is: rest in the room.”

If you move 只:

我想只在房间里休息。
→ “I want to only rest in the room (not anywhere else).”
Here 只 is limiting 在房间里, not the verb phrase as a whole. The focus becomes location rather than action.
我只在房间里休息。 (without 想)
→ “I only rest in the room (and nowhere else).”
Now you are just describing a habit or fact, not what you feel like doing today.

In the original sentence, we want to say “the only thing I want to do today is rest,” so putting 只 before 想 is the most natural.

What exactly does 想 (xiǎng) mean here? I learned it as “think”, but here it looks like “want”.

想 has two very common meanings:

to think
- 我在想。 – I’m thinking.
to want / to feel like (doing something)
- 我想休息。 – I want to rest / I feel like resting.

In this sentence:

我只想在房间里休息。
→ 想 = “want to / feel like”

Compared to 要 (yào):

我想休息。 – “I’d like to rest / I feel like resting.” (softer, more about desire)
我要休息。 – “I’m going to rest / I will rest.” (stronger, more determined, can sound more demanding in some contexts)

So here 想 is appropriate because it’s talking about what you feel like doing today.

Why do we need 在 (zài) before 房间里? Can I just say 我只想房间里休息?

You must have 在 (zài) here; 我只想房间里休息 is ungrammatical.

In Chinese, when you show where something happens, you usually use:

在 + place + (verb)

Examples:

在学校学习 – study at school
在家吃饭 – eat at home
在房间里休息 – rest in the room

So the structure here is:

在 (preposition) + 房间里 (location) + 休息 (verb)

Without 在, 房间里 just floats there with no clear grammatical role.

What is the difference between 在房间 (zài fángjiān) and 在房间里 (zài fángjiān lǐ)? Is 里 (lǐ) necessary?

里 means “inside”.

在房间 – at the room / in the room (location)
在房间里 – inside the room

For rooms and other enclosed spaces, 在房间 and 在房间里 are both commonly used in modern spoken Chinese, and often feel almost the same.

Subtle nuance:

在房间里 can sound a bit more concrete/emphatic about being inside.
在房间 can sound just a bit more neutral/short.

Here both:

我只想在房间休息。
我只想在房间里休息。 are natural. Many speakers actually say 在房间里 out of habit, but 里 is not strictly required.

Why is it 房间 (fángjiān) here and not 房子 (fángzi) or something else? What’s the difference?

These words are related but not the same:

房间 (fángjiān) – room
A single room inside a building (bedroom, study, etc.).
房子 (fángzi) – house / building
The whole house/apartment/building, not a single room.
屋子 (wūzi) – also room, often like 房间; a bit more colloquial in some regions.

In this sentence:

在房间里休息 – rest in (my/the) room (e.g., bedroom).
If you said 在房子里休息, it would just mean “rest inside the house”, not specifically your room.

Why don’t we say 在我的房间里休息? How can Chinese leave out “my”?

Chinese often omits possessives like 我(的) when the owner is obvious from context.

在房间里休息 in a sentence with 我 is naturally understood as “rest in my room.”
If you needed to be explicit (e.g. to contrast with someone else’s room), you’d say:
- 在我的房间里休息 – rest in my room
- 在他的房间里休息 – rest in his room

In everyday conversation, when you talk about “the room” in a context about yourself, people automatically assume “your room.” So the shorter 房间里 is perfectly normal.

Sometimes people say 在家 instead of 在家里. Why is 里 used with 房间 but often dropped with 家?

With some place words that already imply an “inside”, Chinese often drops 里:

在家 (very common) – at home
在学校 – at school
在公司 – at the office/company

You can say 在家里, 在学校里, etc., but 在家 is more common and feels simpler.

With 房间, both are okay:

在房间 – at / in the room
在房间里 – in the room (inside)

There’s no strict rule forcing 里 after 房间; it’s just that 在家 has a very fixed, idiomatic feel, while 在房间(里) feels more flexible, and many speakers naturally say 房间里.

What is the exact meaning of 休息 (xiūxi)? Is it “sleep”, “relax”, or “take a break”?

休息 means to rest / to take a break / to relax (by not working or doing activity).

It does not necessarily mean sleep. It just means:

stop working / stop being active
let your body and/or mind recover

Compare:

休息一下。 – Have a rest / take a break.
我要回家休息。 – I want to go home to rest. (Might be lie down, browse the phone, etc., not necessarily sleep.)
睡觉 (shuìjiào) – to sleep
- 我想睡觉。 – I want to sleep.

In the sentence:

只想在房间里休息 – “just want to rest in my room” (could be lying on the bed, watching something, not going out, etc.).

There’s no word like “will” or a tense marker. How do we know this is about “today I just want to rest” (present/future) and not the past?

Chinese does not use verb changes for tense like English does. Instead, time is usually shown by:

Time words: 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow), 昨天 (yesterday), 现在 (now), etc.
Aspect particles: 了, 过, 着, etc. (not used here)

In this sentence:

今天 clearly sets the time as “today”.
我只想在房间里休息 is a general present/future feeling:
→ Today, I (feel like / want to) rest in my room (instead of doing other things).

If you wanted to stress that you already did rest, you might say something like:

今天我在房间里休息了一天。 – Today I rested in my room all day.

But as written, it’s about your current plan or desire for today.

How do we pronounce 只 (zhǐ) here, and why does it sometimes sound like zhī?

The character 只 has two common pronunciations and meanings:

zhǐ (3rd tone) – only
- That’s the one in this sentence: 只想 – “only want to”.
zhī (1st tone) – a measure word for some animals and items
- 一只猫 (yì zhī māo) – one cat
- 一只鞋 (yì zhī xié) – one shoe

So here:

只 (zhǐ) = “only” (adverb)
It should be 3rd tone, not 1st tone.

Could I drop 我 (wǒ) and just say 今天只想在房间里休息?

Yes, in informal spoken Chinese, it’s possible to drop 我 if the subject is clear from context:

今天只想在房间里休息。
In conversation, this would naturally be understood as:
- “(I) just want to rest in my room today.”

However:

For learners, it’s safer to keep the subject:
- 今天我只想在房间里休息。
Dropping 我 is more like casual speech or diary-style writing where “I” is obvious.

Is this sentence polite or casual? How might it be used in real conversation?

The sentence is neutral and quite casual, suitable for everyday situations.

Examples of use:

When friends invite you out:
- 今天我们去逛街吧。 – Let’s go shopping today.
- 算了，今天我只想在房间里休息。 – Nah, today I just want to rest in my room.
When explaining why you’re not joining an activity:
- 你怎么不出来？ – How come you’re not coming out?
- 太累了，今天我只想在房间里休息。 – Too tired, today I just want to rest in my room.

It doesn’t sound rude; it simply states your preference. You can make it softer by adding:

不好意思，今天我只想在房间里休息。 – Sorry, today I just want to rest in my room.