Learn Hardcore Chinese: xiàbān yǐhòu, tā bù xiǎng yìzhí shàngwǎng, zhǐ xiǎng wán yíhuìr yóuxì, ràng zìjǐ bù nàme lèi. - After work, he doesn’t want to be online all the time; he just wants to play games for a while so he won’t be so tired.

下班以后 = “after work (is over)” in a general, neutral way.
下班了以后 adds 了, which makes it feel a bit more like a specific occasion: “after (he) got off work (that time).” You’d more often see this in storytelling about a particular day.
下班的时候 = “when (he) gets off work / at the time of getting off work.” This focuses more on the time point itself, not the period after that.

In this sentence, we’re talking about what he wants to do after work in general, so 下班以后 is the most natural.

Is 以后 really necessary? Can I just say 下班，他不想一直上网…?

You normally want 以后 (or something similar) here:

下班以后，他不想一直上网… is natural: “After work, he doesn’t want to be online the whole time…”
Just saying 下班，他不想一直上网… sounds incomplete or unnatural, because 下班 alone usually needs a particle or phrase after it (like 以后, 的时候, 以后就, etc.) to link it in time.

You could replace it with:

下班的时候，他不想一直上网… (when he gets off work)
下班了，他就不想一直上网… (once he’s off work, he doesn’t want to…)

But some time‑linking element is needed.

Why is it 不想 and not 不要 or 没想?

These three are quite different:

不想 = “doesn’t want to / doesn’t feel like (doing something).”
- 他不想一直上网 → “He doesn’t want to be online all the time.” (his preference)
不要 = “don’t want (someone) to / must not / shouldn’t.”
- 他不要一直上网 would sound like he is telling someone else “Don’t stay online all the time,” or it feels like an order, not his own feeling.
没想 = “didn’t think / hadn’t planned.”
- 他没想一直上网 = “He hadn’t planned to be online all the time,” focusing on past intention, not his present wish.

So to express his desire/preference, 不想 is the correct choice.

What exactly does 一直 add before 上网? How is it different from just 上网 or something like 常常上网?

一直上网 literally: “be online continuously,” “stay on the internet the whole time.” It emphasizes continuity / “all the time.”
Just 上网 is neutral: “go online / surf the internet,” with no idea of duration or frequency.
常常上网 = “often go online” (frequent but not continuously).

So:

他不想一直上网 = “He doesn’t want to be online all the time (for a long stretch).”
他不想常常上网 = “He doesn’t want to go online so often.”
他不想上网 = “He doesn’t want to go online (at all / right now).”

Why is there no 了 after 上网 or 玩? Shouldn’t completed actions use 了?

Here we’re talking about what he wants to do in general, not describing a specific finished action:

不想一直上网 = describing his preference about a possible or usual situation.
只想玩一会儿游戏 = describing what he would like to do (again, not an action that has already happened).

Adding 了 would change the meaning:

他不想一直上网了 → “He doesn’t want to keep being online anymore” (stop a current habit).
只想玩了一会儿游戏 → sounds like describing what actually happened: “(He) only played games for a little while.” That no longer matches the “want to” idea.

So no 了 is needed in this “want / prefer” context.

What’s the difference between 只想, 只是想, and 只要 here?

只想 = “only want to.”
- 他只想玩一会儿游戏: “He just wants to play games for a little while.”
只是想 is a bit longer and softer: “it’s just that he wants to…”
- 他只是想玩一会儿游戏 can sound slightly more explanatory or defensive: “It’s just that he wants to play games for a little while.”
只要 = “as long as / only if / only need to.”
- 他只要玩一会儿游戏 would mean “As long as he plays games for a little while…” and normally would need a result clause, e.g.
  他只要玩一会儿游戏，就不那么累了。
  “As long as he plays games for a little while, he won’t be so tired.”

In this sentence, we want “only wants to,” so 只想 is the right one.

How does 玩一会儿 work grammatically? What’s the difference between 玩一会儿 and 玩一下? And what about the 儿?

Structure: 玩 + 一会儿

玩 = to play.
一会儿 = “a little while / a short time.”

So 玩一会儿(儿) = “play for a little while.”

Differences:

玩一会儿 → focuses on duration: play for a short period.
玩一下 → more like “play a bit / give it a try once,” emphasizing a single brief action rather than a stretch of time.

About 儿:

In northern Mandarin (e.g. Beijing), 一会儿 is pronounced yíhuìr with 儿化.
In many southern areas, people say 一会 (yíhuì) without the 儿. Both forms are understood; 一会儿 is standard in writing.

Why is it 玩一会儿游戏 and not 玩游戏一会儿? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically possible, but they’re not equally natural:

玩一会儿游戏 is the most natural word order:
玩 + 一会儿 (duration) + 游戏 (object)
“Play games for a little while.”
玩游戏一会儿 is understandable, but sounds less smooth and more colloquial, and in many contexts Chinese speakers still prefer 玩一会儿游戏.

In general, when expressing duration of an action, Chinese often uses:

Verb + 一会儿 + Object (especially with short objects like 游戏, 手机)
Or Verb + Object + Verb + 一会儿, e.g. 玩游戏玩一会儿, but that’s longer and more emphatic.

How does 让自己不那么累 work? What does 让 do here, and why do we need 自己?

Pattern: 让 + somebody + (VP / adjective)

让 here means “let / make / cause.”
让自己不那么累 = “make/let himself not so tired.”

Breakdown:

让 = to cause / let.
自己 = himself (refers back to 他).
不那么累 = not that tired / not so tired.

Why 自己?

If you just say 让不那么累, there is no clear “who” is becoming less tired.
自己 shows that the person affected is the same as the subject earlier (他).

So the idea is: he wants to do something (play a bit) in order to make himself less tired.

What exactly does 那么 add in 不那么累? How is it different from 这么 or from just 不累?

那么 = “that (degree), so (much)” and usually refers to a relatively distant or general degree.
这么 = “this (degree), so (much)” often used for things that feel close or immediate.

In this sentence:

不那么累 ≈ “not that tired / not so tired,” downplaying the degree of tiredness.
不这么累 would also be understood, but 那么 feels a bit more neutral and common in this pattern.
不累 = “not tired,” which is stronger: it suggests he isn’t tired at all.
But the sentence wants to say “less tired,” not “0 tired.”

So 不那么累 expresses a reduced but not completely gone tiredness.

Could we say 不太累 instead of 不那么累? What’s the nuance difference?

Yes, you could say 不太累:

不太累 literally: “not very tired.” This evaluates how tired he ends up feeling, more like a simple description.
不那么累 = “not that tired / not so tired.” It often implies a comparison with some other state (e.g. as tired as before, as tired as he would be without playing).

Subtle nuance:

让自己不太累 → make himself not very tired (general, mild).
让自己不那么累 → make himself not quite as tired (as otherwise / as before), a bit more comparative.

Both are natural; 不那么累 fits slightly better with the idea of reducing tiredness.

Why is the subject 他 only mentioned once? How do we know who does 只想玩一会儿游戏 and 让自己不那么累?

Chinese often drops subjects if they are obvious from context:

Full version (with subjects repeated) would be:

下班以后，他不想一直上网，他只想玩一会儿游戏，他想让自己不那么累。

But because all the actions clearly refer to the same person:

After we say 他不想一直上网, we can omit 他 in:
- 只想玩一会儿游戏 (he only wants to play…)
- 让自己不那么累 (he wants to make himself less tired)

Listeners/readers automatically understand that it’s still 他. This kind of subject omission is very common in Chinese once the subject is established.

Is the overall word order fixed? For example, could I say 下班以后，他只想玩一会儿游戏，不想一直上网 instead?

You can change the order, and both versions are natural but have slightly different emphasis:

Original:
- 他不想一直上网，只想玩一会儿游戏…
  Emphasis: first on what he doesn’t want (not stay online), then on what he only wants (play a bit).
Reordered:
- 他只想玩一会儿游戏，不想一直上网…
  Emphasis: first on his simple wish (just play a bit), then contrasting with what he doesn’t want.

Chinese allows some flexibility like this, especially with parallel clauses joined by commas. The meaning is basically the same; you mainly shift the focus by changing the order.