wán yóuxìjī bù yīnggāi yǐngxiǎng xuéxí.

Playing video games shouldn’t affect (your) studies.

Breakdown of wán yóuxìjī bù yīnggāi yǐngxiǎng xuéxí.

• 不bù: not
• 学习xuéxí: to study
• 应该yīnggāi: should
• 玩wán: to play
• 影响yǐngxiǎng: to affect
• 游戏机yóuxìjī: video game console

Questions & Answers about wán yóuxìjī bù yīnggāi yǐngxiǎng xuéxí.

In this sentence there is no pronoun like “I” or “you”. Who is the subject, and is it okay in Chinese to leave it out?

Yes, it’s completely natural in Chinese to leave the subject out when it’s clear from context.

In 玩游戏机不应该影响学习, the implied subject is something like:

• 你 / 别人 / 大家 – “you / other people / everyone”

So the full meaning is:

• （你）玩游戏机不应该影响（你的）学习。
  “(When you) play video games, it shouldn’t affect (your) studies.”

Chinese often omits:

• subjects (我，你，他，大家)
• possessives (你的学习 → 学习)

as long as the listener can infer them. This is very common in general statements, rules, or advice.

Why is the negation written as 不应该 and not 应该不?

In this sentence, 不应该 is a fixed structure meaning “should not / ought not to”.

• 不应该 + V = “should not V”
  
  • 不应该影响学习 = “should not affect studies”

If you say 应该不 + V, it usually does not mean “should not V”. Instead, 应该不 normally goes with adjectives or stative verbs and means “probably not / should not be (the case that) …” For example:

• 应该不贵 = “It probably isn’t expensive / It shouldn’t be expensive.”
• 应该不会迟到 = “(He) probably won’t be late.”

So:

• 不应该影响学习 = moral/behavioral “You shouldn’t let it affect your studies.”
• 应该不影响学习 = “It probably doesn’t affect your studies.” (a guess/prediction)

They express different ideas. For “should not do X”, use 不应该 + V.

Why do we use 不 and not 没 here?

不 and 没(有) are both negators, but they’re used differently.

• 不: generic negation, habitual, future, or modal (“should not”, “will not”)
• 没(有): past / factual non-occurrence or non-existence (“did not”, “don’t have”)

In 不应该, we’re talking about what is right / appropriate, not about whether something actually happened. It’s about obligation / correctness, so we use 不:

• 不应该影响学习 = “It should not affect studies.” (normative)

If you used 没, the meaning would shift toward factual description:

• 没影响学习 = “(It) did not affect (the) studies.” (a statement of fact, not advice)

So with 应该, use 不应该 for “should not”, never 没应该.

Is 玩游戏机 the subject of the sentence? How can a verb phrase act like a noun in Chinese?

Yes. In 玩游戏机不应该影响学习, the structure is:

• 玩游戏机 – “playing video games” (verb phrase functioning as the subject)
• 不应该影响 – “should not affect”
• 学习 – “studies” (object)

So the sentence is literally:

• [Playing video games] should not affect [studies].

Chinese allows a verb phrase (VP) to act as the subject or object without adding extra markers. This is very similar to English -ing forms:

• English: Playing video games shouldn’t affect your studies.
• Chinese: 玩游戏机不应该影响学习。

No extra word like “the act of” is needed. The verb phrase itself can be treated as a kind of noun phrase (“the action of doing X”) from the sentence’s point of view.

What exactly does 影响 mean here? Is it a verb or a noun, and how is it different from saying 有影响?

In this sentence, 影响 is a verb meaning “to affect; to have an effect on”.

• 影响 + object = “affect (something)”
  • 影响学习 = “affect studies”

影响 can also be a noun meaning “influence; impact”, especially in patterns like:

• 对 A 有影响 = “to have an influence on A”
  • 对学习有影响 = “(to) have an influence on (your) studies”

Compare:

1. 玩游戏机不应该影响学习。
   “Playing video games should not affect studying.”
   – 影响 is a verb, very direct.

2. 玩游戏机不应该对学习有影响。
   “Playing video games should not have an influence on studying.”
   – 影响 is a noun inside 有影响 (“have an influence”).

Both are correct; (1) is shorter and more common in speech; (2) sounds a bit more formal or explicit.

Is 学习 used as a noun (“studies”) or a verb (“to study”) in this sentence?

Here, 学习 is functioning like a noun, roughly “studies / studying”.

• It is the object of the verb 影响:
  • 影响什么？→ 影响学习 (“affect what? → affect studying / studies”)

In Chinese, many words can be both verbs and nouns without changing form. 学习 can mean:

• Verb: 我在学习。 – “I am studying.”
• Noun: 我的学习 – “my studies”

In 影响学习, there is no “doer” of the action inside 学习, so we interpret it as a thing (the activity of studying), similar to the English gerund “studying” used as a noun.

What’s the difference between 游戏 and 游戏机, and could I just say 玩游戏 instead?

• 游戏 (yóuxì) = games (general)
  
  • can be computer games, phone games, board games, party games, etc.
• 游戏机 (yóuxìjī) = game console / gaming device
  
  • literally “game machine”

玩游戏机 focuses on using the machine/device (a console, handheld, arcade machine, etc.).

You can say:

• 玩游戏不应该影响学习。
  “Playing games should not affect your studies.”

That version is a bit more general (all kinds of games, not just console games). The given sentence specifically highlights video game machines – which is a common concern in real life, so it sounds very natural.

How is 不应该 different from 不要 or 别 when telling someone not to do something?

They all express “don’t / shouldn’t”, but with different tones and usage.

1. 不应该 + V

   • Meaning: “should not / ought not to”
   • Emphasis: moral / ideal / what is appropriate
   • Example: 玩游戏机不应该影响学习。
     “Playing video games shouldn’t affect your studies.”

2. 不要 + V

   • Meaning: “don’t (do something)”
   • Often a request or instruction; can be softer or neutral depending on tone
   • Example: 玩游戏机不要影响学习。
     Literally: “When you play games, don’t let it affect your studies.”
     This sounds more like telling someone directly what to do.

3. 别 + V

   • Meaning: “don’t (do something)”
   • Very common in spoken Chinese; sometimes a bit more blunt / direct
   • Example: 玩游戏机别影响学习。
     “When you play games, don’t let it affect your studies.”

So:

• 不应该: more about principle / rule – “It shouldn’t.”
• 不要 / 别: more like commands / instructions – “Don’t do it.”

Can I say 玩儿 instead of 玩 here? What’s the difference?

Yes, in spoken Mandarin, especially in northern accents (like Beijing), you will often hear:

• 玩儿 (wánr) instead of 玩 (wán)

So people might say:

• 玩儿游戏机不应该影响学习。

Differences:

• Pronunciation: 玩儿 has the “er” sound (儿化).
• Region / style:
  • 玩儿: very natural in northern speech, informal, conversational.
  • 玩: standard everywhere; preferred in writing and in more formal situations.

In writing, 玩游戏机 is more neutral and standard. In casual conversation, both 玩 and 玩儿 are fine, depending on your accent.

How do I pronounce this sentence correctly, especially the tone changes in 不应该 and 影响?

Full pinyin with tones:

• 玩游戏机不应该影响学习。
  wán yóu xì jī bú yīng gāi yíng xiǎng xué xí

Important tone sandhi (tone changes):

1. 不应该

   • 不 is normally 4th tone (bù), but before a 1st tone (yīng), it changes to 2nd tone:
   • Pronounce it as: bú yīnggāi

2. 影响

   • Written as yǐng (3rd) + xiǎng (3rd)
   • Two 3rd tones in a row: the first changes to 2nd tone in actual speech:
   • Pronounce it as: yíngxiǎng

So the natural spoken flow is:

• wán yóuxìjī bú yīnggāi yíngxiǎng xuéxí

Could I add 的时候 after 玩游戏机, like 玩游戏机的时候? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• 玩游戏机的时候，不应该影响学习。
  “When (you are) playing video games, it should not affect your studies.”

Difference in nuance:

• 玩游戏机不应该影响学习。

  • Treats 玩游戏机 as a subject:
    “Playing video games should not affect studying.”
  • Slightly more abstract/general.

• 玩游戏机的时候，不应该影响学习。

  • Makes 玩游戏机的时候 a time clause: “when playing video games”
  • Highlights the time / situation when the rule applies.

The overall meaning (in terms of advice) is almost the same; the version with 的时候 just makes the temporal relationship more explicit.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say 你玩游戏机不应该影响学习 or 玩游戏机不应该影响你的学习?

Both of those variations are grammatical and natural; they just add information or clarity.

1. 你玩游戏机不应该影响学习。

   • Adds an explicit subject 你: “When you play video games, it shouldn’t affect your studies.”
   • Slightly more direct, like addressing a specific person.

2. 玩游戏机不应该影响你的学习。

   • Adds possessive 你的: “Playing video games shouldn’t affect your studies.”
   • Makes it clear whose study is involved.

The core structure remains:

• (Subject) + 玩游戏机 + 不应该 + 影响 + (谁的)学习

So word order is mostly fixed in terms of the pattern:

• [playing games] + [should not] + [affect] + [studies]

But you can freely insert 你 / 大家 / 他 before 玩游戏机, and 你的 / 大家的 before 学习 to clarify who you’re talking about.