Learn Hardcore Chinese: zài xuéxiào hé jiā lǐ, dàjiā dōu yīnggāi kěyǐ zìyóu tǎolùn zìjǐ de xiǎngfǎ. - At school and at home, everyone should be able to freely discuss their own ideas.

You can say 在学校和在家里, and it’s grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit heavier and is usually used only when you want to stress the two places separately. The original version is more natural and concise in everyday speech and writing.

What is the difference between 家 and 家里 here? Why not just say 在家?

Both 在家 and 在家里 are common and correct. The difference is nuance:

家 by itself can mean “home” or “family”.
家里 literally means “inside the home”, emphasizing the physical place.

In practice:

在家 — very common, neutral: “at home”.
在家里 — slightly more vivid / concrete: “in the home, inside the home environment”.

In this sentence, 在学校和家里 highlights two environments where discussion should be free: at school and at home. You could also say 在学校和在家 or 在学校和在家里; the overall meaning is the same.

Can I move 在学校和家里 to after 大家? For example: 大家在学校和家里都应该可以…. Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can move it:

在学校和家里，大家都应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。
大家在学校和家里都应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。

Both are correct and mean essentially the same thing.

The difference is in emphasis/order:

在学校和家里，… puts the locations first as the topic: “As for at school and at home, everyone should be able to…”
大家在学校和家里都应该… puts 大家 first as the main subject: “Everyone, at school and at home, should…”

This “topic first” structure is very natural in Chinese, so the original word order is very typical.

What is the nuance of 大家 here? How is it different from 每个人?

Both can be translated as “everyone”, but they feel different:

大家 literally: “big family / all people here”
- Feels more collective, like “all of us / all of you / everyone (as a group)”.
- Very common in speech and in inclusive statements.
每个人 literally: “every person, each person”
- Emphasizes individuals one by one.
- Often used when stressing that something applies to each individual separately.

Here:

大家都应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。
Emphasizes the whole group: “Everyone (all people) should be able…”

每个人 would not be wrong, but 大家 is smoother and more natural for this kind of general, inclusive statement.

What does 都 do after 大家, and is it necessary?

都 means “all / both / without exception”.

大家都应该可以… = “Everyone all should be able to…”

In Chinese, when the subject clearly refers to more than one person (like 大家, 我们, 他们, or a plural noun), adding 都 is very common to emphasize all of them, not just some.

If you remove 都:

大家应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。

This is still grammatical, but:

With 都: stronger, clearer that it applies to every person in that group.
Without 都: feels a bit more general and slightly weaker.

In natural speech, most native speakers would include 都 here.

Why do we have both 应该 and 可以 together? What’s the difference between them, and what happens if I drop one?

They are two different modal verbs:

应该 = “should / ought to” (moral obligation, what is right or expected)
可以 = “can / may / be allowed to” (permission or possibility)

Combined:

应该可以 ≈ “should be allowed to / should be able to”

So the sentence means:
“Everyone should (morally) be allowed / be able to freely discuss their own ideas.”

If you change them:

Only 应该:
- 大家都应该自由讨论自己的想法。
- Focus on obligation: “Everyone should freely discuss…” (they have a duty to discuss).
Only 可以:
- 大家都可以自由讨论自己的想法。
- Focus on permission/possibility: “Everyone can / may freely discuss…” (it is allowed/possible, but not necessarily a moral ‘should’).

应该可以 combines both “this is right” and “they are (or should be) permitted/able to”.

What’s the difference between 可以 and 能 in this kind of sentence? Could I say 应该能自由讨论 instead?

You could say 应该能自由讨论, and it’s grammatical, but the nuance changes:

可以 = permission / possibility within rules or conditions
- Here: “be allowed to” (by school, by parents, by society).
能 = ability / possibility (can do it, is capable, circumstances allow it)
- Here: “be able to” in a more practical sense.

Compare:

大家都应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。
Emphasis: They should be allowed to do this (no one should forbid it).
大家都应该能自由讨论自己的想法。
Emphasis: They should be able to do this in reality (it should be feasible, conditions should allow it).

In the context of rights and freedom of speech, 可以 is more natural because it sounds like “they should have the right / permission”.

Is 自由 an adjective (“free”) or an adverb (“freely”) here? Why isn’t there a 地 after it?

自由 is originally an adjective (“free”), but in this sentence it functions like an adverb (“freely”):

自由讨论 ≈ “discuss freely”

In Chinese, adjectives can often be used directly before verbs without 地, especially when the meaning is clear and the combination is common. Both are acceptable:

自由讨论 – very common, natural
自由地讨论 – a bit more formal or explicit, but also correct

So 自由 here is behaving like an adverb, even though its basic part of speech is “adjective”. Chinese is flexible this way.

Why use 讨论 instead of a simpler verb like 说 or 谈?

These verbs are related but not the same:

说 = “to say / speak / tell”
- Focus on the act of speaking itself.
谈 = “to talk about” (usually more general, can be one-sided or two-sided)
讨论 = “to discuss”
- Implies exchange of opinions, back-and-forth, more like a discussion or debate.

The sentence is about sharing and exchanging ideas in an open way:

自由讨论自己的想法 = “freely discuss one’s own ideas”

If you said 自由说自己的想法, it would sound more like “freely say/express one’s ideas”. That’s not wrong, but 讨论 better captures the idea of an actual discussion rather than just speaking.

Does 自己 refer to “each person themselves” or to the group as a whole?

In this sentence:

自己 refers to each person’s own self, individually.

So:

大家都应该可以自由讨论自己的想法。
= “Everyone should be able to freely discuss their own ideas.”

Even though 大家 is a group word, 自己 here is interpreted per person, not “our collective idea”. That’s the usual reading: each member of the group talking about their own thoughts.

Why is 的 needed between 自己 and 想法? Could I say 自己想法 without 的?

Here 的 is a structural particle that links a modifier to a noun:

自己 (modifier: “one’s own”)
的
想法 (noun: “idea, thought”)

So 自己的想法 = “one’s own ideas”.

In most cases, after a pronoun or 自己, 的 is required:

我的想法 (my ideas)
他们的想法 (their ideas)
自己的想法 (one’s own ideas)

You can drop 的 only in a limited set of fixed expressions (like 我家, 你妈) or for certain close relationships or very set phrases. 自己想法 without 的 sounds wrong/unnatural in standard modern Mandarin in this context.

What does 想法 mean exactly, and how is it different from 想 as a verb?

想 (verb) = “to think / to want / to miss”
想法 (noun) = “thought(s), idea(s), way of thinking, opinion(s)”

So:

想 is the action of thinking or wanting.
想法 is the result/content of that thinking: your ideas or opinions.

In 自己的想法:

It means “one’s own ideas / one’s own opinions”, not “the act of thinking oneself”.