Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhōumò wǒ bù xiǎng gēn qīnqi yìqǐ qù jùhuì. - On weekends I don’t want to go to parties with relatives.

You can also say 我周末不想跟亲戚一起去聚会, and that is also correct and common. Putting 周末 first makes the time a bit more prominent, like “As for the weekend, I don’t want to…”. Both word orders are acceptable in everyday speech.

What exactly does 想 mean here? Is it “think”, “want”, or “miss”?

The verb 想 (xiǎng) has several common meanings:

to want / would like to
- 我想喝咖啡。 — I want to drink coffee.
- This is the meaning in your sentence: 我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。 = “I don’t want to go to a gathering with my relatives.”
to think (mental activity)
- 我在想这件事。 — I’m thinking about this matter.
to miss (someone)
- 我很想你。 — I really miss you.

Here, because 想 is followed by another verb (去聚会), it clearly means “want to / feel like (doing something)”, not “think” or “miss”.

Why is it 不想 and not 不要 or 不去? What’s the difference?

All three are possible in Chinese, but they express slightly different nuances.

不想去聚会
- Literally “do not want to go to the gathering”.
- Describes your inner desire / willingness.
- This is the most natural if you’re just saying you don’t feel like going.
不要去聚会
- Usually sounds like a command or warning: “Don’t go to the gathering.”
- More like telling someone else not to go, or refusing an offer:
  - A: 我们去聚会吧。
    B: 不要，我太累了。 (“No, don’t, I’m too tired.”)
不去聚会
- Literally “(I) am not going to the gathering.”
- Focuses on the action (the fact that you’re not going), not on your desire.
- Often used to state a decision: 我不去聚会了。 — I’m not going to the gathering (anymore).

Your sentence with 不想 emphasizes “I don’t feel like it / I don’t want to.”

What does 跟 mean here? Can I replace 跟 with 和?

跟 (gēn) literally means “with / together with / follow”. In this sentence, 跟亲戚 means “with (my) relatives”.

周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。
= On the weekend, I don’t want to go to a gathering with (my) relatives.

You can usually replace 跟 with 和 (hé) here:

周末我不想和亲戚一起去聚会。

Both are natural. Very rough tendencies:

跟 often feels a bit more colloquial and is extremely common in speech.
和 is also very common and can sound a bit more neutral/formal in some contexts.

In this everyday sentence, 跟 and 和 are interchangeable.

Why do we need 一起? What is the difference between 跟亲戚去聚会 and 跟亲戚一起去聚会?

一起 (yìqǐ) means “together”.

跟亲戚去聚会 — go to the gathering with relatives (the “together” idea is implied).
跟亲戚一起去聚会 — go together with relatives to the gathering (explicitly emphasizes doing it as a group).

In practice:

Without 一起, the sentence is still correct and usually understood as “with (them)”.
Adding 一起 simply makes the “togetherness” clearer and a bit more emphatic.

So:

周末我不想跟亲戚去聚会。 — fine, natural.
周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。 — fine, and stresses “all together with them” a bit more.

Does 周末 mean “this weekend” or “on weekends (in general)” here?

周末 (zhōumò) by itself is flexible:

It can mean “this coming weekend”:
- 周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。
  → Often understood as “This weekend, I don’t want to go to the gathering with my relatives.”
It can also mean “on weekends (generally)”, depending on context:
- For example, as a habit:
  周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会，我更喜欢一个人在家。
  → “On weekends, I don’t want to go to gatherings with relatives; I prefer being at home alone.”

Context (previous sentences, time, situation) usually makes it clear. If you specifically want to say “this weekend”, you can say:

这个周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。

Why is there no word for “my” before 亲戚? Shouldn’t it be 我的亲戚?

In Chinese, possessives like 我(的) “my” are often omitted when the relationship is obvious:

爸爸 / 妈妈 / 家人 / 朋友 / 老师 / 同学 / 亲戚 etc.

So 亲戚 here is naturally understood as “(my) relatives” from context.

Compare:

周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。
→ By default, listeners assume “my relatives”.

You can say 我的亲戚, but it often sounds more specific, like you are distinguishing my relatives from someone else’s:

我不想跟我的亲戚一起去聚会，你可以跟你的亲戚去。
→ “I don’t want to go with my relatives; you can go with your relatives.”

Why is there no measure word (like 个) before 亲戚?

Chinese uses measure words with counted nouns. Here, 亲戚 is used as a general group, “relatives” in general, not as “one relative / two relatives”.

No counting → no measure word needed:
- 跟亲戚一起去聚会 — go with relatives (as a group).

If you wanted to specify number, you would use a measure word:

跟一个亲戚一起去聚会 — go with one relative.
跟几个亲戚一起去聚会 — go with several relatives.
跟我家的亲戚一起去聚会 — go with my family’s relatives (still group, no number, so no need for 个).

Can I drop 去 and just say 周末我不想跟亲戚一起聚会? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

周末我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。
- Literally: “I don’t want to go to a gathering with my relatives.”
- Emphasizes the going (movement) to some event/location.
周末我不想跟亲戚一起聚会。
- Literally: “I don’t want to have a gathering with my relatives.”
- Emphasizes the activity of gathering/meeting itself.

In many everyday contexts, both work and the meaning difference is small. If there is a specific event at a particular place, 去聚会 (“go to the gathering”) is slightly more natural. If it’s more about the act of socializing, 一起聚会 feels fine.

Why is 不 placed before 想? Could I say 我想不跟亲戚一起去聚会?

In Chinese, 不 typically comes directly before the verb or adjective it negates.

Here, the main verb is 想 (“want to”), so we negate it:
- 不想 = “do not want (to)”.

So:

我不想跟亲戚一起去聚会。
= I don’t want to go (with relatives).

我想不跟亲戚一起去聚会 is grammatically possible, but it sounds awkward and unusual in this meaning. It would be interpreted more like:

“What I want is not to go with my relatives (maybe I still want to go, but not with them).”

Native speakers would normally express that idea as:

我想自己去，不想跟亲戚一起去。
→ “I want to go by myself; I don’t want to go with my relatives.”

So for “I don’t want to go…”, 不想 is the standard pattern.

How is 亲戚 pronounced? Why is the second syllable not written with a tone mark?

The pinyin you often see is qīnqi:

亲 → qīn (first tone)
戚 → base tone is qī (first tone), but in this word it is usually pronounced with a neutral tone.

So:

亲戚 is pronounced qīn‧qi (first tone + neutral tone).

In many learning materials, neutral-tone syllables are written without a tone mark (just qi, not qī), to show that you should make them very light and short.

So if you see:

亲戚 (qīnqi) — it means qīn in 1st tone, qi in neutral tone, not another full first tone.

What does 聚会 mean exactly? Is it the same as 派对?

聚会 (jùhuì) is a general word meaning “gathering, get-together, meeting up (socially)”. It can be:

Family get-together
Friends’ reunion
A small informal party
A class reunion, etc.

派对 (pàiduì) is a loanword meaning “party”, and often suggests a more Western-style party:

birthday party, Christmas party, club party, etc.

So:

跟亲戚一起去聚会 — go to a family gathering / get-together.
去生日派对 — go to a birthday party.

Your sentence with 聚会 is about some kind of social/family gathering, not necessarily a loud party with music and dancing.