Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhōumò zài jiā de shíhou, wǒ bù xiǎng zuò biéde shìqing, zhǐ xiǎng kàn diànyǐng hé chī hǎochī de dōngxi. - On weekends when I’m at home, I don’t want to do anything else; I just want to watch movies and eat tasty things.

Time phrases like this almost always come before the main clause in Chinese, so:
周末在家的时候，我不想…
= “On weekends, when I’m at home, I don’t want to …”

Why do we need 的 in 在家的时候? Can I say 在家时候?

You need 的 here because 在家 is an attributive phrase modifying the noun 时候.

The pattern is:

[phrase] + 的 + 名词 (noun)

Examples:

在学校的老师 – the teacher(s) who are at school
我喜欢的电影 – the movie(s) that I like
在家的时候 – the time when (I am) at home

Without 的, 在家时候 is ungrammatical. So 的 is required in this kind of “when …” structure.

Where is the subject “I” in the phrase 周末在家的时候? Why is 我 not mentioned there?

The subject of 在家 is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause (我).

So the full idea is:

(我) 在家的时候 – when (I’m) at home

In Chinese, if the subject in a subordinate phrase (like a …的时候 phrase) is the same as the main subject, it is often omitted.

You could say 周末我在家的时候，我不想…, and it’s still correct, but it sounds a bit heavier and less natural unless you contrast subjects (e.g. “When I’m at home, but my brother isn’t…”).

Could I move 周末 somewhere else, like 我周末在家的时候? Is that okay?

Yes, 周末我在家的时候，我不想… is grammatical and natural.

Some possibilities:

周末在家的时候，我不想…
周末我在家的时候，我不想…

Both are fine.

What you normally don’t do is split it in a strange way like 我在家周末的时候, which sounds wrong. The safe patterns are:

[周末][在家的时候]，我…
[周末][我在家的时候]，我…

Time expressions usually appear early in the sentence, before the main subject–verb–object structure.

In 我不想做别的事情, what does 想 mean here? Is it “think” or “want”?

In this sentence, 想 (xiǎng) means “to want (to do something)” or “to feel like (doing something).”

我想做… – I want to do / I feel like doing …

It does not mean “to think” here. Context decides the meaning:

我想，他今天不会来。 – I think he won’t come today.
我想喝咖啡。 – I want to drink coffee.

In 我不想做别的事情, it’s “I don’t want to do other things.”

What’s the difference between 不想 and 不要? Could I say 我不要做别的事情?

不想 and 不要 can both translate as “don’t want,” but they’re used differently.

不想 + verb – neutral “don’t feel like / don’t want to (do something)”
- 我不想做别的事情。 – I don’t want to do other things.
不要 + verb – often sounds like a command or warning (“don’t do (it)!”) or a more direct refusal
- 不要说话！ – Don’t talk!
- 我不要吃这个。 – I don’t want to eat this (more blunt, refusing something).

In this sentence, you’re describing your own preference in a neutral way, so 不想 is the natural choice.
我不要做别的事情 could sound too strong or like you’re refusing someone’s suggestion.

Why do we need both 做 and 事情 in 做别的事情? Can I drop one of them?

做别的事情 literally means “do other matters/things (to do).”

做 (zuò) – do
别的 (biéde) – other / else
事情 (shìqing) – things / matters / tasks

You have a few options:

做别的事情 – do other things (full phrase, very natural)
做别的事 – same meaning, 事 is a shorter colloquial form
做别的 – often okay in context, but feels slightly less complete; listeners infer “things”

In this sentence, 做别的事情 is very natural and clear. Dropping 做 (我不想别的事情) doesn’t work; you’d lose the verb and the sentence would be ungrammatical.

What’s the difference between 别的 and 其他? Could I say 其他事情 instead of 别的事情?

Both 别的 and 其他 can mean “other”.

别的 (biéde) – very common in spoken Chinese, sounds a bit more colloquial.
其他 (qítā) – slightly more formal/neutral; common in both spoken and written Chinese.

Here you could say:

不想做别的事情
不想做其他事情

Both are correct and natural. The nuance difference is small; 别的事情 might sound just a bit more everyday/conversational.

What exactly does 只 do in 只想看电影和吃好吃的东西?

只 (zhǐ) means “only / just.”

只想… – only want to … / just want to …

So:

我只想看电影和吃好吃的东西。
= I only want to watch movies and eat tasty things.

Without 只, it would be a simple statement of what you want to do, not emphasizing exclusivity:

我想看电影和吃好吃的东西。
= I want to watch movies and eat tasty things (maybe among other things).

只 highlights that these are the only activities you feel like doing.

Why is it 看电影和吃好吃的东西 and not something like 看电影和好吃的东西? Why do we repeat the verb?

In Chinese, when you list different actions, you usually repeat the verb for each action:

看电影和吃东西 – watch movies and eat things
喝咖啡和吃蛋糕 – drink coffee and eat cake

If you said 看电影和好吃的东西, it would be incomplete because 好吃的东西 has no verb in front of it; it would sound like “watch movies and delicious things,” which is wrong.

So you need:

看电影 (action 1)
吃好吃的东西 (action 2)
connected by 和.

What does 好吃的东西 literally mean, and why is there a 的 after 好吃?

Literally:

好吃 (hǎochī) – tasty / delicious
好吃的 – the -的 turns it into “tasty (one(s))” / “the tasty kind”
东西 (dōngxi) – thing(s), stuff

So 好吃的东西 is “things that are tasty” / “delicious things.”

The 的 after an adjective is common when the adjective modifies a noun:

好吃的东西 – tasty things
漂亮的衣服 – pretty clothes
新的手机 – new phone

You can think of 的 here as working like “-that-are” or “-which-are” in English:
好吃的东西 ≈ “things that are tasty.”

Why do we use 东西 for “food” here and not 食物?

东西 (dōngxi) literally means “thing(s) / stuff.” In daily speech it’s very often used to refer to food, especially in casual contexts:

吃东西 – eat something / eat food / have a snack
买点儿东西 – buy some stuff (context can make it specifically food or groceries)

食物 (shíwù) also means “food,” but it’s more formal and a bit less common in everyday talk, especially in this kind of casual sentence.

So:

吃好吃的东西 – sounds natural, conversational.
吃好吃的食物 – correct, but feels more formal/bookish.

For “I just want to watch movies and eat tasty food,” 东西 is exactly the right tone.

Why is there no plural marker like 们 on 东西? How do we know it’s “things” (plural)?

Chinese usually doesn’t mark plural on inanimate nouns.

东西 can mean “thing” or “things” depending on context.
There is no form 东西们 in normal usage.

Plurality is understood from context, numbers, or words like 一些 (some):

吃东西 – eat something / eat things / eat stuff
吃一些好吃的东西 – eat some tasty things

So 好吃的东西 naturally reads as “tasty thing(s),” and in this context, “tasty things” or simply “tasty food.” No extra plural marker is needed.