Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǎnshang wǒmen ānjìng de tīng yīnyuè. - In the evening we quietly listen to music.

的: links an adjective or noun to a noun (attributive)
- 安静的房间 – a quiet room
地: links an adjective (or adjective phrase) to a verb (adverbial)
- 安静地听音乐 – listen to music quietly
得: links a verb/adjective to a complement (how well, how much, etc.)
- 听得很安静 – listen in a very quiet way / quietly

In 安静地听音乐, 安静 is describing how we listen (modifying the verb 听), so we use 地, the adverb marker. Using 的 here would be considered wrong in standard written Chinese, though some people do mix them in casual writing.

What is the basic word order in this sentence? Why does 晚上 come first?

The sentence is:

晚上我们安静地听音乐。

Typical Chinese word order is:

Time – Subject – (Place) – Manner – Verb – Object

So here:

晚上 – time (in the evening)
我们 – subject (we)
安静地 – manner (quietly)
听 – verb (listen)
音乐 – object (music)

Putting 晚上 at the beginning is very natural: Chinese usually states when something happens early in the sentence. You could also say 我们晚上安静地听音乐, which is also fine; it just lightly shifts the focus onto 我们 (“we, in the evening, quietly listen to music”). The meaning is essentially the same.

Can I say 在晚上我们安静地听音乐 instead of 晚上我们安静地听音乐?

You can say 在晚上, but it’s less common and can sound a bit bookish or heavy unless it’s part of a longer phrase like:

在晚上八点，我们安静地听音乐。
At 8 p.m., we quietly listen to music.

In everyday Chinese, simple time words like 今天, 明天, 晚上, 早上 are normally used without 在:

晚上我们安静地听音乐。 ✅
我们晚上安静地听音乐。 ✅
在晚上我们安静地听音乐。 – grammatical, but not the most natural choice in casual speech.

How is 地 pronounced here? Is it dì or de?

In 安静地听音乐, 地 is pronounced as a neutral-tone de (no full 4th tone):

安静地 – ān jìng de

General rule:

When 地 is used as this adverb marker (linking adjective → verb), it is almost always read as neutral-tone de in modern Mandarin.
The dì pronunciation is mainly for content words like 地铁 (dìtiě) “subway”, 地上 (dìshang) “on the ground”, etc., where 地 means “earth/ground/land”.

Could I drop 地 and just say 晚上我们安静听音乐?

Yes, in informal spoken Chinese, you’ll often hear people omit 地:

晚上我们安静听音乐。

This is understandable and sounds casual. However:

In standard written Chinese, including 地 is preferred and considered more correct: 安静地听音乐.
Without 地, 安静 still clearly modifies 听, but the sentence feels less “formal” and can be a bit abrupt in writing.

So:

Speaking to friends: 安静听音乐 – okay, casual.
Writing an essay or exam: 安静地听音乐 – better.

Can 安静 be a verb meaning “to be quiet”, or is it only an adjective?

安静 is primarily an adjective: “quiet, peaceful”.

房间很安静。 – The room is quiet.
他很安静。 – He is quiet.

But in some contexts it can behave like a verb meaning “to be quiet / quiet down”, especially in commands:

安静！ – Be quiet! / Quiet!
大家安静一下。 – Everyone, be quiet for a moment.

In your sentence 安静地听音乐, 安静 is not acting as a separate verb; it’s describing how we listen (quietly), functioning as an adverb with 地.

If you wanted to separate the ideas, you could say:

晚上我们很安静，然后听音乐。
In the evening we are very quiet, and then we listen to music.

Here 安静 is clearly a predicate adjective (“we are quiet”).

Do we need 在 before 听 to mean “are listening” (progressive), like 在听音乐?

It depends on what you want to express.

晚上我们安静地听音乐。
This can mean:
- a habit: “In the evenings, we (usually) listen to music quietly,” or
- a simple action in the past/future with context: “This evening we listened / will listen to music quietly.”

If you want to clearly emphasize that an action is in progress right now, you often use 在 (or 正在):

晚上我们在安静地听音乐。
晚上我们正在安静地听音乐。

These mean “In the evening we are (in the middle of) quietly listening to music.”

However, native speakers would more naturally specify a more precise time if they’re talking about “right now”:

现在我们在安静地听音乐。 – Right now, we are quietly listening to music.

For general habits, you normally don’t use 在/正在; the original sentence is perfect for that.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before 音乐?

Chinese does not have separate words for “the” and “a/an” the way English does. Nouns appear without articles, and the context shows whether they’re definite or indefinite or generic.

So 听音乐 can mean:

listen to music (in general)
listen to some music
listen to the music (if the situation makes it clear which music)

If you really want to say “this music”, “that music”, etc., you can specify:

听这首音乐 – listen to this piece of music
听那段音乐 – listen to that section of music

But for a general statement about an activity, 听音乐 already means “(to) listen to music.”

Why don’t we use a measure word with 音乐, like 一些音乐?

In Chinese, many abstract or mass nouns (like 音乐 – music, 水 – water, 空气 – air) can be used without a measure word when talking about them in general:

听音乐 – listen to music
喝水 – drink water
呼吸空气 – breathe air

If you want to quantify or specify a piece/amount, then you use measure words:

听一首歌 – listen to one song
听一段音乐 – listen to a section of music
听一点儿音乐 – listen to a bit of music

In your sentence, we are just describing the activity, so 听音乐 is natural and idiomatic.

What’s the difference between 晚上 and other “night” words like 夜里, 晚, 傍晚?

They all relate to the later part of the day, but with different shades:

晚上 (wǎnshang) – “evening / night” in general, very common
- Roughly from after dinner until bedtime.
- Neutral and everyday: 晚上我在家。 – I’m at home in the evening/night.
夜里 (yèli) – “at night” (late-night feel)
- More about the late night / during the night time.
- 夜里我常常醒来。 – I often wake up during the night.
晚 (wǎn) – “late; evening”
- As a time word by itself, it’s often used in expressions like 今天晚上 (this evening) or 晚饭 (dinner).
傍晚 (bàngwǎn) – “dusk / around sunset”
- Specifically early evening/twilight.
- 傍晚我们去散步。 – Around dusk we go for a walk.

Your sentence uses 晚上, which naturally covers the time when people might be relaxing and listening to music.

Can we drop 我们 and just say 晚上安静地听音乐?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

晚上安静地听音乐。

But then:

It sounds more like a fragment (e.g., a note or a plan: “In the evening, (we’ll) quietly listen to music”), or
A general instruction or description: “In the evening, (one) quietly listens to music.”

If you want to clearly say “we”, keeping 我们 is better:

晚上我们安静地听音乐。 – In the evening, we quietly listen to music.

Chinese often omits subjects when they’re obvious from context, so in a conversation where “we” is already known, you might indeed just say 晚上安静地听音乐 and it would be understood.

How would I change this sentence to clearly refer to a completed action, like “Last night we listened to music quietly”?

You can add a past time word and an aspect marker 了 after the verb:

昨晚上我们安静地听了音乐。
昨天晚上我们安静地听了音乐。 (more full)

Breakdown:

昨天晚上 – last night
我们 – we
安静地 – quietly
听了 – listened (completed action; 了 after the verb)
音乐 – music

You could also put 了 at the end if you’re emphasizing the whole situation:

昨天晚上我们安静地听音乐了。

Both are possible; 听了音乐 feels a bit more neutral and common here.