Learn Hardcore Chinese: xiàbān yǐhòu wǒ bù xiǎng chūmén, zhǐ xiǎng zài jiā gēn jiārén yìqǐ chīfàn. - After work I don’t want to go out; I just want to eat with my family at home.

In this sentence it acts like a verb phrase: 下班以后 = after (I) finish work.
There is no need for an extra verb like 做完工作 (finish doing work). 下班 by itself already means that your working time is over.

You can think of 下班以后 as a fixed kind of chunk meaning after work / after I get off work. The subject (我) is understood from the main clause, so you don’t need to repeat it before 下班.

Why is 以后 placed after 下班? Could I say 以后下班 instead?

以后 (yǐhòu) means after / later on, and it usually comes after the time/event it refers to:

下班以后 = after work
吃饭以后 = after eating
三点以后 = after three o’clock

So 下班以后 is the natural order.

You can move the whole phrase, though:

下班以后，我不想出门。
我下班以后不想出门。

Both are correct and common.

以后下班 is not natural here. That would sound more like in the future when I work and get off work, which is not the intended meaning. The usual pattern is [event/time] + 以后.

What is the difference between 不想出门 and 不出门? Why use 不想出门 here?

不想出门 (bù xiǎng chūmén) = don’t want to go out (focus on the desire / intention).
不出门 (bù chūmén) = do not go out / will not go out (more about the action or fact).

In this sentence, we are expressing a personal preference:

我不想出门 = I don’t feel like going out / I don’t want to go out.

If you said:

我不出门 – it sounds more like a decision or rule: I’m not going out (stated as a fact), less about how you feel. Both can be correct depending on nuance, but 不想出门 better matches the idea of not wanting to go out after work.

What is the nuance of 想 here? How is it different from 要?

想 (xiǎng) in this sentence means to want / to feel like / to would like to. It can also mean to think, but here it clearly means to want.

我不想出门 = I don’t want to go out.
只想在家跟家人一起吃饭 = (I) only want to eat at home with my family.

要 (yào) is often stronger and more definite:

我要出门 = I’m going out / I want to go out (and I will).
我想出门 = I’d like to go out / I feel like going out.

So 想 is softer and more about desire; 要 is often more like an intention or plan. In this sentence, 想 fits well because it’s about what you feel like doing after work.

Why is 想 used twice (不想出门, 只想在家…)? Is that repetition necessary?

The pattern here is:

我不想出门，只想在家跟家人一起吃饭。
= I don’t want to go out; I only want to eat at home with my family.

Using 想 twice makes the contrast very clear:

First clause: what you don’t want to do (不想出门).
Second clause: what you do want to do (只想在家…).

Grammatically, you could omit the second 想 and say:

我不想出门，只在家跟家人一起吃饭。

But this becomes less natural and less clear. It can sound like a description of what actually happens, instead of clearly stating your desire. Native speakers normally keep 想 in both parts in this kind of contrast.

What is the difference between 出门 and 出去? Could I say 不想出去 instead?

Both 出门 (chūmén) and 出去 (chūqù) can mean to go out, but there is a nuance:

出门 literally go out the door, and more broadly leave home / go out (into the world).
出去 is also to go out, but it focuses slightly more on the movement from inside to outside.

In everyday speech:

不想出门 and 不想出去 are both very common and usually interchangeable in context.
不想出门 leans a bit more toward not wanting to leave the house / not wanting to go anywhere.
不想出去 is a bit more about the physical act of going outside.

In this sentence, 不想出门 is perfectly natural and perhaps slightly more idiomatic when you mean I just want to stay home.

What does 只 do here, and why is it placed before 想?

只 (zhǐ) is an adverb meaning only / just.

只想在家跟家人一起吃饭
= only want to eat at home with my family.

The normal position of 只 is before the verb it modifies:

只想… = only want to…
只吃菜，不吃肉。 = only eat vegetables, don’t eat meat.

If you put it after 想, like 想只在家跟家人一起吃饭, it’s grammatically possible but sounds less natural and subtly shifts the focus. The standard and most natural form is 只想 + [action].

Why is it 在家 and not 在我的家 or 在家里?

In Chinese, 在家 (zài jiā) by default means at home (my home) when the speaker is 我. You do not need to say 我的 unless you want to emphasize my as opposed to someone else’s.

在家 = at home (implicitly one’s own home).
在家里 adds 里 (inside) and can sound a bit more inside the house, but often they are interchangeable in casual speech.

Examples:

我在家。 = I’m at home.
今天在家休息。 = Rest at home today.

在我的家 is grammatically okay but sounds more formal or unnatural in everyday conversation. It’s only used if you really need to contrast: 在我的家，不是在你家.

So 只想在家… is the normal, natural way to say only want to be at home….

Why is 跟 used with 家人? Could I use 和 instead?

跟 (gēn) here is a preposition meaning with:

跟家人一起吃饭 = eat with (my) family.

You can also use 和 (hé) in many similar contexts:

在家和家人一起吃饭。
在家跟家人一起吃饭。

Both are acceptable. Nuance:

跟 is often slightly more conversational and frequent in spoken Mandarin for with.
和 feels a bit more neutral, sometimes a bit more written/formal, but still very common in speech.

In this sentence, 跟家人一起吃饭 is very typical spoken Mandarin.

What does 一起 add to the sentence? Where can it be placed?

一起 (yìqǐ) means together.

跟家人一起吃饭 = eat together with (my) family.
Without 一起, 跟家人吃饭 simply means eat with family, but 一起 emphasizes the togetherness.

Typical positions:

跟 + person + 一起 + verb
- 跟朋友一起看电影。 = Watch a movie with friends.
一起 + verb + 跟 + person (less common in this sentence)
- 一起吃饭跟家人。 – grammatically possible but not idiomatic here.

So 在家跟家人一起吃饭 is the most natural word order. 一起 almost always comes right before the main verb (吃饭 here) or between the object person and the verb.

What does 家人 mean exactly, and do I need a measure word like 个?

家人 (jiārén) means family member(s) or collectively my family (the people in my household or close family you live with / are close to).

跟家人一起吃饭 = eat with my family.
It usually refers to parents, spouse, children, siblings, etc.

You don’t need a measure word here because you’re not counting them:

我的家人 = my family / my family members.
跟家人一起 = together with my family.

If you want to talk about a specific number, then you add a measure word:

三个家人 = three family members.

In this sentence, no measure word is needed.

How does Chinese express tense here? Why is there no word like will to mark the future?

Chinese does not require a specific word like will to mark future tense. Time is usually expressed by:

Time words / phrases: 下班以后, 明天, 晚上, etc.
Context.

Here:

下班以后我不想出门
= Literally after getting off work I not-want go-out
= I don’t want to go out after work.

Because 下班以后 clearly refers to a future time (later today), native speakers automatically understand the meaning as future. You could add 会 (huì):

下班以后我会不想出门 – but this is odd, almost like After work I will not want to go out as a predicted state, not a simple preference.

So in natural speech, you just say 下班以后我不想出门; the time phrase does the job.

Is there any important tone change (tone sandhi) in this sentence I should know about?

A couple of useful points:

不 (bù) tone change:
- Rule: 不 changes from 4th tone to 2nd tone before another 4th-tone syllable.
- Here, 不想 (bù xiǎng) – 想 is 3rd tone, so 不 stays 4th tone.
- So you say bù xiǎng, not bú xiǎng.
一 (yī) in 一起 (yìqǐ):
- Rule: 一 changes to 2nd tone before a 4th tone, and to 4th tone before a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone.
- In 一起, 起 (qǐ) is 3rd tone, so 一 is pronounced 4th tone: yìqǐ (which matches the dictionary form).

Other words you mostly just pronounce with their dictionary tones:

下班 xiàbān (4-1)
以后 yǐhòu (3-4)
出门 chūmén (1-2)
家人 jiārén (1-2)
吃饭 chīfàn (1-4)

The main sandhi to watch here is 不想 = bù xiǎng and 一起 = yìqǐ.