Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhècì wǒ xiǎng zài jiā ānjìng de xiūxi. - This time I want to rest quietly at home.

这次我要在家安静地休息。
→ This time I’m going to rest at home. (more determined, almost like a decision or requirement)
这次我会在家安静地休息。
→ This time I will rest at home. (describing what will happen, more factual/predictive)

So 想 = “want / would like (to)” in a relatively gentle way. That fits normal, casual speech about what you feel like doing.

Why is 这次 at the beginning? Can I say 我这次想在家安静地休息 instead?

Both word orders are correct:

这次我想在家安静地休息。
我这次想在家安静地休息。

They mean essentially the same thing: “This time I want to rest quietly at home.”

Nuance and style:

Putting 这次 at the very beginning (1) slightly emphasizes the contrast with other times:
“As for this time, I want to rest at home.”
Putting 这次 after 我 (2) feels very natural in everyday speech as well:
“I, this time, want to rest at home.”

In practice, both are common and natural. Chinese is flexible with placing time expressions either at the very start or right after the subject.

What exactly does 在家 mean here? Why is it before 安静地休息?

在家 literally means “at home” and marks the location of the action.

The general word order for this kind of sentence is:

Time (这次) + Subject (我) + Verb / mental verb (想) + Place (在家) + Manner (安静地) + Main verb (休息)

So:

在家 → where you rest
安静地 → how you rest (quietly)
休息 → what you do (rest)

Chinese tends to place the location before the manner when both appear before the main verb, so:

在家安静地休息
(at home, quietly, rest)

is more standard than something like:

安静地在家休息 (possible, but sounds less natural in most contexts).

What is the function of 地 in 安静地休息? Why not 的 or 得?

地 here is a structural particle that turns an adjective into an adverbial phrase modifying the verb.

安静 = quiet (adjective)
安静地休息 = rest quietly (adverbial use)

In modern standard Mandarin:

的 mainly links modifiers to nouns.
- e.g. 安静的房间 = a quiet room
地 links modifiers to verbs (adverbial).
- e.g. 安静地休息 = rest quietly
得 comes after a verb and introduces a complement.
- e.g. 休息得很安静 = rest in a very quiet way

So in this structure “adjective + 地 + verb,” 地 is the correct one.

Can I drop 地 and just say 安静休息?

Yes, in everyday speech you’ll often hear:

这次我想在家安静休息。

This is still understood as “rest quietly at home.” Omitting 地 is very common in spoken Chinese, especially when the meaning is clear and the phrase is short.

However:

In more formal writing or when you want to be very clear/standard, 安静地休息 is preferable.
In speech and casual writing, both 安静地休息 and 安静休息 are natural.

Is 安静 describing “the house” (the home is quiet) or “the resting” (rest quietly)?

In this sentence, 安静 is describing how you rest, not the home.

Structure:

在家 → at home (location)
安静地 → quietly (manner)
休息 → rest (action)

If you wanted to say “rest in a quiet home,” you’d normally make the home explicitly quiet, e.g.:

这次我想在安静的家里休息。
(“This time I want to rest in a quiet home.”)

Note 安静的家里 here: 安静的 modifies 家 (adjective → noun).

What does 休息 exactly mean here? Is it a verb or a noun? Can it stand alone?

In this sentence, 休息 is used as a verb, meaning “to rest / to take a break.”

安静地休息 = to rest quietly

But 休息 can also function like a noun in many contexts, similar to English “a rest / a break”:

我需要休息。
I need (to) rest / I need a break.
我们休息十分钟。
Let’s rest for ten minutes / a ten-minute break.

It’s very common and natural as the main verb by itself:

我想休息一下。
I’d like to rest a bit / take a short break.

There’s no 了 in this sentence. Does it talk about the future, the present, or something else?

With 想, this sentence is about a current intention regarding the (near) future:

这次我想在家安静地休息。
→ This time I want to rest quietly at home.
(implied: at some time soon, like this weekend, tonight, during this holiday, etc.)

No 了 is needed because:

You are not emphasizing that something has already happened.
You are just stating what you want to do (your plan/desire).

If you wanted to say it already happened, you would change the sentence more:

这次我在家安静地休息了。
This time I (indeed) rested quietly at home.
(describing a completed event)

What is the basic word order pattern in this sentence? How does it compare to English?

The pattern is:

Time + Subject + (mental verb / auxiliary) + Place + Manner + Main verb

Specifically:

这次 → time (this time)
我 → subject (I)
想 → mental verb (want to)
在家 → place (at home)
安静地 → manner (quietly)
休息 → main verb (rest)

English is:

Subject + (aux) + Verb + Manner + Place
“I want to rest quietly at home this time.”

Chinese often puts time at the very beginning and place and manner before the main verb. So if you remember:
[Time] [Who] [want] [where] [how] [do what], you’ll understand many similar sentences.

Can I omit 这次 or 我? What changes?

Omit 这次:
- 我想在家安静地休息。
  → I want to rest quietly at home.
This just removes the “this time” contrast. It becomes a general statement about what you want right now, without contrasting with previous times.
Omit 我:
- 这次想在家安静地休息。
Grammatically possible in context, but:
- In written or formal context, omitting 我 can sound incomplete if it’s not clear who the subject is.
- In informal, ongoing conversation where the subject is already obvious, Chinese speakers sometimes drop the pronoun, but usually 我 is kept here.

So: dropping 这次 is very natural, but dropping 我 is only natural if context makes it 100% clear you are talking about yourself.

Are there more natural or common alternative ways to say the same idea?

Yes, some very natural alternatives include:

这次我想在家好好休息。
→ This time I want to have a really good rest at home.
(好好 = “properly / well,” very common.)
这次我想在家安安静静地休息。
→ This time I want to rest nice and quietly at home.
(安安静静 is a reduplication that sounds more vivid/colloquial.)
这次我想在家轻松地休息一下。
→ This time I want to relax and rest a bit at home.

Your original sentence is already perfectly natural and standard; these are just style variations.

How do I pronounce 安静地休息 smoothly? Any tone tips?

Pinyin and tones:

安静地休息 → ān jìng de xiū xi
- 安 (ān) – 1st tone
- 静 (jìng) – 4th tone
- 地 (de) – neutral tone here (very light)
- 休 (xiū) – 1st tone
- 息 (xi) – neutral tone

Tips:

Neutral tone on 地 and 息
- Say de and the second xi lightly and quickly.
Stress the main syllables:
- ĀN (安), JÌNG (静), XIŪ (休) are the “heavy” beats.
- It will sound like: ĀN-jìng-de XIŪ-xi (strong–fall–light, then strong–light).

Practicing as a chunk “在家安静地休息” (zài jiā ān jìng de xiū xi) will help it feel natural and fluent.