Learn Hardcore Chinese: Tā zài shítáng lǐ yě néng zhuānxīn xuéxí, biéren shuōhuà de shíhou tā dōu tīng bú jiàn. - She can also concentrate on studying in the cafeteria; when others are talking she can’t even hear them.

在 is a preposition meaning “at / in / on (a place)”. It introduces a location phrase:
- 在 + place → at/in that place
里 literally means “inside”.

So:

在食堂 = at the cafeteria
在食堂里 = inside the cafeteria (emphasizes being within the space)

You could say:

她在食堂也能专心学习。 (fine, more neutral)
她在食堂里也能专心学习。 (feels more like even in that noisy interior environment)

Using both 在 and 里 is extremely common:
在家里，在房间里，在学校里 etc.

What does 也 do in 在食堂里也能专心学习? Can we leave it out or move it?

也 means “also / too / even” and here it carries the nuance:

She can also / even study with full concentration in the cafeteria.

Implication: maybe she can already concentrate in quieter places; even in the cafeteria she can.

Without 也:
- 她在食堂里能专心学习。
- Just states a fact, loses the “also/even” contrast.

Placement: Adverbs like 也 generally go before the verb or modal verb:

✅ 她在食堂里也能专心学习。
❌ 她在食堂里能也专心学习。 (unnatural)

You can sometimes move 也 earlier for emphasis or contrast in a larger context, but in this isolated sentence, its natural place is right before 能.

What’s the difference between 也 and 都, and why do we have both in this sentence (也能 and 都听不见)?

They’re both adverbs, but mean different things:

也 = also / too / even
- Adds something to an existing set: in addition / likewise.
都 = all / both / without exception
- Refers to a whole set (of times, people, places, etc.) and means every one of them.

In this sentence:

也能专心学习
- 也: She can not only concentrate in usual places, but also/even in the cafeteria.
她都听不见
- 都: Whenever other people are talking (all those times / all those voices), she can’t hear any of them → not at all / none of them.

So:

也: adds a new, maybe surprising situation.
都: emphasizes that in all those situations, the result is the same (she hears nothing).

In 专心学习, what is 专心 grammatically? Why don’t we say 专心地学习?

专心 can be:

an adjective: to be focused
or used adverbially: to focus(edly) do something.

In 专心学习, 专心 is functioning like an adverb modifying 学习:

专心学习 = study with full concentration / concentrate on studying.

Both of these are correct:

专心学习
专心地学习

Adding 地 makes it more explicitly “adverbial,” but in modern spoken and written Chinese, when an adjective is one syllable or a very common two-syllable word, people often omit 地:

认真工作 (seriously work)
努力学习 (study hard)
仔细看 (carefully look)

So 专心学习 is completely natural and very common.

Why is 能 used (也能专心学习) instead of something like 会 or 可以?

The three are all modal verbs but have different flavors:

能: can / be able to, often about ability, conditions, or possibility.
会: know how to / will, often about learned skill or future.
可以: may / be allowed to / be possible, often about permission or general possibility.

In context:

她在食堂里也能专心学习。
- Means she is able to / manages to concentrate even in the cafeteria environment (despite distractions).

If we changed it:

会专心学习 – would sound more like “she knows how to study with concentration” (not the point here).
可以专心学习 – tends to sound like “she is allowed to study with concentration” or “it’s possible for her to study with concentration” (less natural here, unless focusing on permission or circumstance).

能 is the best choice to express practical ability in that environment.

How does 别人说话的时候 work? What is 的时候 doing, and why is there a 的?

的时候 literally combines:

的 (linking marker)
时候 (time / moment)

Structure:

[event] + 的时候 = when [event] happens / at the time of [event]

So:

别人说话的时候
- 别人说话 = other people speak / are speaking
- 的时候 = the time when
- Together: when other people are talking

More examples:

我回家的时候 = when I go home / when I went home
下雨的时候 = when it rains / when it was raining
他忙的时候 = when he is busy

The 的 connects the preceding verb phrase / clause to the noun 时候 to form a time expression.

Why is 她 repeated in the second clause: 别人说话的时候她都听不见? Could we leave it out?

This is the second clause of the sentence:

别人说话的时候她都听不见。

Chinese generally likes to state the subject of each clause clearly, especially when clauses are longer or there’s a pause/comma.

First clause: 她在食堂里也能专心学习，…
Second clause: … 别人说话的时候她都听不见。

Repeating 她 makes it clear that:

别人 is the subject of “说话” (others are talking), and
她 is the subject of “听不见” (she can’t hear).

If you omit 她, you would just have:

别人说话的时候都听不见。

This could be grammatical but feels incomplete—who can’t hear? It could be used if context made the subject crystal clear and very close, but normally you keep the 她 for clarity and naturalness.

In 她都听不见, what is 都 doing? There’s only one “她,” so why “all”?

Here 都 is not counting people; it’s emphasizing “all (instances) / without exception.”

The implied logic:

There are many times / many people / many sentences of 别人说话.
In all of those cases, she can’t hear any of it.

So:

她都听不见 ≈ she can’t hear them at all / she never hears them / she doesn’t hear any of it.

都 can emphasize “all of the times / all of the cases” even when:

there is only one subject, and
the plurality is in the situations or objects, not people.

Similar patterns:

我怎么叫他，他都不听。
No matter how I call him, he just doesn’t listen (at all).
你说什么，我都支持。
Whatever you say, I support it (all of it).

What’s the difference between 听不见, 没听见, and 听不到?

All relate to “not hearing,” but with different focus:

听不见
- Structure: 听 + 不 + 见 (potential complement)
- Means: be unable to hear / cannot hear (in general, by ability or condition)
- Focus: it’s not possible to hear it (too quiet, too noisy, too far, or too focused).
- In the sentence: 她都听不见 = she generally cannot hear them (as a result of her strong focus).
没听见
- 没 = not (did not)
- Means: did not hear (that time / on that occasion)
- Focus: a specific event in the past:
  - 刚才你叫我了吗？我没听见。
    “Did you call me just now? I didn’t hear.”
听不到
- 到 here is another result complement: reach/arrive.
- Often similar to 听不见, but can emphasize the sound didn’t reach me / I have no access to it (distance, walls, etc.).
- 听不见 and 听不到 often interchangeable; 听不见 is more common in everyday speech.

In this sentence, 听不见 is best because we’re describing a general capability/result when she’s concentrating, not one specific missed instance.

Why is 不 written as bú (second tone) in 听不见 instead of bù (fourth tone)?

This is tone sandhi (tone change) in Mandarin.

Rule:
When 不 (bù, fourth tone) is followed by another fourth-tone syllable, 不 usually changes to second tone: bú.

In 听不见:

听 (tīng) – 1st tone
不 (bù) – 4th tone
见 (jiàn) – 4th tone

Since 不 is directly followed by 见 (jiàn, fourth tone), it becomes:

bújiàn → 听不见 (tīng bú jiàn)

Other examples:

不是 → bú shì
不对 → bú duì
不用 → bú yòng

In pinyin, we still write 不, but pronounce it bú in these positions.

Why is the word order 别人说话的时候她都听不见 and not something like 她都听不见别人说话的时候?

Chinese likes to put time expressions (and many other adverbials) before the main subject + verb, especially if they’re longer phrases.

Pattern:

[time] + [subject] + [adverb] + [verb]

So:

别人说话的时候 = when other people are talking (time clause)
她 = subject
都 = adverb
听不见 = verb phrase

Putting it together:

别人说话的时候，她都听不见。

If you say:

她都听不见别人说话的时候。

that sounds unnatural/incorrect because 别人说话的时候 is specifically modifying when the not-hearing happens; it doesn’t belong after the verb like an object. The natural placement is at the front as a time phrase.

Why is there no direct object after 听不见? What can’t she hear?

The object is understood from context: she can’t hear what other people are saying.

别人说话的时候她都听不见。
Literally: When other people are talking, she can’t hear (it) at all.

Chinese often omits obvious objects, especially when:

the object is clearly given in a preceding phrase, or
repeating it would be redundant or clunky.

If you really want to spell it out (more explicit, slightly heavier):

别人说话的时候，她都听不见他们在说什么。
When others are talking, she can’t hear what they’re saying.

But in everyday speech and natural writing, the simpler version without the explicit object is preferred.

Does this sentence mean she has a hearing problem, or just that she’s very focused?

By default, this sentence implies she’s very focused, not that she’s physically hard of hearing.

在食堂里也能专心学习 → she can concentrate even in a noisy environment.
别人说话的时候她都听不见 → she’s so absorbed that other people’s talking doesn’t register with her.

This is similar to saying in English:

“When she’s studying, she doesn’t even hear other people talking.”

It’s normally figurative / about concentration, unless additional context says she actually has a hearing impairment.