Learn Hardcore Chinese: Píngshí wǒmen xiàbān yǐhòu zǒngshì xiān huíjiā, ránhòu zài qù chāoshì. - Normally, after work we always go home first and then go to the supermarket.

平时 means “normally / in everyday situations / in general” and is a time‑setting word. In Chinese, time expressions often appear at the very beginning of the sentence to set the scene:

平时我们下班以后…… – As for normal times, after we get off work, we…
昨天我们下班以后…… – Yesterday, after we got off work, we…

You can also say:

我们平时下班以后总是先回家……

This is also natural. The most common patterns are either:

平时 + Subject + …
Subject + 平时 + …

So both 平时我们下班以后… and 我们平时下班以后… are fine. Putting 平时 at the very start simply emphasizes the “usual / in general” situation a bit more clearly.

What’s the difference between 平时, 经常, 常常, and 一般? They all seem to mean “usually” or “often”.

All of these relate to frequency or typical situations, but they’re not identical:

平时 – focuses on “at normal times / generally speaking, in everyday life”. It sets up a typical situation, not necessarily emphasizing frequency:
- 平时我们下班以后总是先回家。
  In normal times, after work we always go home first.
经常 / 常常 – focus on frequency: “often / frequently”.
- 我们下班以后经常去超市。
  After work, we often go to the supermarket.
一般 – means “generally / normally / in most cases”; closer to “as a rule”:
- 我们下班以后一般先回家。
  Generally, after work we go home first.

You can sometimes replace 平时 with 一般 without changing much, but 经常 / 常常 are more about how often you do something, not about “at normal times” vs “special times (like holidays, weekends, trips, etc.)”.

Why is it 下班以后 and not 以后下班? What’s the rule for verb + 以后?

以后 literally means “after (that time)”. When used with a verb meaning an event, the common structure is:

[Action] + 以后 = after [doing that action]

So you get:

下班以后 – after getting off work
吃饭以后 – after eating
毕业以后 – after graduating

以后下班 would sound like “afterwards, (we) get off work”, which doesn’t fit this sentence. The chronological structure is:

Time / situation: 平时
Condition / earlier event: 下班以后
Main action: 总是先回家……

So for “after [an event]”, use [verb phrase] + 以后, not 以后 + verb.

Is there any difference between 下班以后 and 下班后? Which is more natural?

Both mean “after work / after getting off work” and are very close in meaning:

下班以后 – more explicitly “after (the time) of getting off work”
下班后 – “after work”; slightly shorter, a bit more concise

In everyday speech, both are used and both sound natural. If anything, 下班后 may feel slightly more written or compact, but the difference is small. You could say:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家。
平时我们下班后总是先回家。

Both are fine.

What does 总是 add here? How is it different from 常常 or just leaving it out?

总是 means “always / without exception (or nearly always)”. It expresses a strong regularity:

我们下班以后总是先回家。
After work we always go home first.

Compare:

常常 / 经常 – “often / frequently”, but not necessarily every time.
- 我们下班以后常常先回家。
  After work we often go home first.
With no adverb:
- 我们下班以后先回家。
  After work we go home first. (Neutral; no frequency indicated.)

So 总是 tells you this is their standard, almost invariable habit.

Why is the word order 下班以后总是先回家? Could it be 总是下班以后先回家 or 先总是回家?

Chinese has a fairly regular order for adverbials. A simplified version is:

Time / condition → Frequency → Manner / sequence → Verb

In the sentence:

下班以后 – time / condition
总是 – frequency
先 – sequence adverb (first)
回家 – main verb phrase

So: 下班以后 + 总是 + 先 + 回家

Other orders you suggested are unnatural or change meaning:

总是下班以后先回家 – sounds like “(We) always, after work, first go home”. Grammatically possible, but 下班以后 as the main time phrase is more natural at the front.
先总是回家 – incorrect. 先 must directly modify the verb phrase (先回家, first go home). 总是 modifies the whole action (总是先回家, always first go home). You can’t insert 总是 between 先 and 回家.

What exactly does 先 do here? Is it like English “first”?

Yes, 先 here functions like “first / first of all” in a sequence of actions. It indicates the first step in a series:

先回家，然后再去超市。
First go home, then go to the supermarket.

Common patterns:

先 A，再 B – first do A, then do B
先 A，然后 B – same idea, “first A, then B”

So 先 doesn’t stand alone; it normally appears right before the verb phrase:

先吃饭 – eat first
先回家 – go home first

What’s the difference between 然后 and 再? Why are both used: 然后再去超市?

Both relate to doing something later / next, but they have slightly different roles:

然后 – connects clauses, like “and then / after that”. It often comes at the start of the next step:
- ……先回家，然后去超市。
  …first go home, and then go to the supermarket.
再 – adverb meaning “then / again / afterwards” that sits before the verb:
- 然后再去超市 – and then go (there) next / then go to the supermarket.

In 然后再去超市, the nuance is:

然后 – marks this as the next step in the sequence in terms of the sentence’s structure.
再 – emphasizes “do this action afterwards / as a subsequent step” at the verb level.

You could also say:

先回家，然后去超市。 – perfectly fine and natural.
先回家，再去超市。 – also fine; 再 alone marks the next step.

Using both 然后再 together is common spoken style and sounds smooth and natural, especially when you want to stress both “and then” and “as the next thing you do”.

Can we omit 再 and just say 然后去超市? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can omit 再:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家，然后去超市。

This is grammatically correct and very natural. The difference is subtle:

然后去超市 – “and then go to the supermarket” (plain next step)
然后再去超市 – “and then (only then / afterwards) go to the supermarket”; 再 adds a slight sense of sequence and postponement: do it as the next thing.

In most everyday contexts, they’re almost interchangeable. 然后再去超市 just feels a bit more explicitly “step‑by‑step”.

Why do we use 去 before 超市? Could we just say 然后再超市?

In Chinese, when you talk about going to a place, you normally use a motion verb like 去 (go) before the place word:

去学校 – go to school
去公司 – go to the office
去超市 – go to the supermarket

If you say 然后再超市, that’s incomplete. It sounds like just “then (at) the supermarket”, with no verb. You need the action:

然后再去超市。 – then go to the supermarket.

You could expand it:

然后再去超市买东西。 – then go to the supermarket to buy things.

But you can’t drop 去 entirely unless another verb clearly indicates movement, which it doesn’t here.

Why isn’t 我们 repeated in the second part? Could we say 然后我们再去超市?

Chinese often omits repeated subjects when it’s clear from context that they’re the same:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家，然后再去超市。
Subject 我们 is understood for both clauses.

Adding 我们 again is allowed:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家，然后我们再去超市。

This is grammatically correct. Adding 我们 can:

Make the sentence a bit more emphatic / explicit.
Sound slightly more formal or careful.

But in everyday speech and writing, leaving it out (as in the original sentence) is more natural and less repetitive.

There are no tense markers like “will” or “ed” in Chinese. How do we know this sentence is about a habitual action, not a one‑time event?

Chinese doesn’t have verb tenses like English. Instead, context words and adverbs tell you about time and aspect. In this sentence, several elements show habitual meaning:

平时 – in normal times / generally
总是 – always
The overall structure “after work we first X, then Y” describes a routine.

Together, these signal a habitual present: what they usually do. The same sentence structure could describe past habits if the surrounding context were about the past (for example, if earlier you said “When I lived in Beijing…”). Chinese relies heavily on context rather than verb inflection.

Could we say 我们平时总是下班以后先回家? Does moving 平时 or 总是 change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

我们平时下班以后总是先回家，然后再去超市。

The meaning is essentially the same. This order is also very natural:

我们平时 – As for us, normally…
下班以后 – after work
总是先回家 – we always go home first

Roughly, these are all common and good:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家……
我们平时下班以后总是先回家……

Moving 平时 to after 我们 shifts the focus very slightly to “we normally (as opposed to others)”, but it’s a small, subtle nuance. The sentence is fine either way.

What’s the difference between 回 and 回家 here? Could we just say 先回?

回 means “to return / to go back”.
回家 means “to go back home / return home”.

In this sentence, 回家 tells you where they’re returning to. If you only said 先回, it would feel incomplete:

先回 – first go back (to where? office? hotel? home?).

You can omit 家 only when the destination is obvious from context or already stated:

我先回了。 – I’ll head back (everyone knows it means home in this context).

But in an isolated sentence like this, 先回家 is the natural complete expression.

Could we say 下班了以后 instead of 下班以后? Does the 了 change the meaning?

You might hear or see 下班了以后, but in standard, natural Mandarin for “after work” as a time expression, 下班以后 (or 下班后) is more typical.

下班以后 treats “getting off work” as a general event / time point: after the time of getting off work.
下班了以后 emphasizes that the action has already occurred (with 了), so “after (we’ve) gotten off work (already)”. It can sound a bit more specific / one‑time rather than habitual.

For a habitual routine like in this sentence, 下班以后 (or 下班后) is the more standard choice.

Could I say this sentence in a shorter way, like 平时下班以后我们总是先回家再去超市 without 然后 and without the comma?

Yes, you can shorten it:

平时下班以后我们总是先回家再去超市。

This is grammatically correct and still natural. Differences:

Removing 然后 makes the sequence a bit less “spoken‑style narrative” and a bit more compact.
Removing the comma is fine in continuous text; spoken Chinese just has a pause there.

So you have several acceptable versions with slightly different rhythm:

平时我们下班以后总是先回家，然后再去超市。
平时我们下班以后总是先回家，再去超市。
平时下班以后我们总是先回家再去超市。

All are correct; (1) sounds the most conversational and step‑by‑step.