Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhōumò wǒ xiǎng chūmén dǎgōng, dànshì bàba bù tóngyì. - On weekends I want to go out to do part-time work, but my dad doesn’t agree.

在周末 is not wrong, but sounds more formal or bookish in many everyday contexts. In normal speech, bare time words like 周末, 明天, 下午 are used without 在:

明天我去北京。 (not 在明天我去北京 in everyday conversation)
下午我们开会。

What exactly does 想 mean here? Is it “want,” “would like to,” or “to think”?

想 is a flexible verb. Common meanings:

to want / would like to / feel like
- 我想出门打工。 = I want / would like to go out and work.
to think / to consider / to miss (different contexts)
- 我想你。= I miss you.
- 我想，这个办法不错。= I think this method is not bad.

In your sentence, 想 clearly means “to want / would like to / feel like (doing something)” because it’s followed by an action (出门打工). It does not mean “I think” here.

Why do we need both 出门 and 打工? Could we just say 我想打工?

You can say just 我想打工 — that’s correct and means “I want to work (at a part-time job).”

Adding 出门 adds the idea of going out (leaving home) to do that work:

我想打工。 = I want to do part-time work.
我想出门打工。 = I want to go out (leave the house) to do part-time work.

So 出门打工 is like “go out to work (a side job),” emphasizing the going-out part.

What’s the difference between 出门, 出去, and 出来?

All three involve “going out,” but they’re used a bit differently:

出门 – literally “exit the door,” commonly just “go out / leave home.”
- 我想出门。= I want to go out (leave the house).
出去 – “go out (away from here).” Focus is on moving outward from the speaker’s current place.
- 我想出去玩。= I want to go out to have fun.
出来 – “come out (toward the speaker).” Focus is on movement toward the speaker’s side.
- 出来吃饭！= Come out (of your room) to eat!

In 出门打工, 出门 works like a set phrase “go out (from home)” and pairs naturally with working or other outside activities.

What is 打工 exactly, and how is it different from 工作 or 上班?

打工 usually means:

doing part-time work
doing casual/odd jobs
often used for students, young people, migrant workers, etc.

Examples:

大学生暑假去打工。= College students go to work part-time in the summer.
我周末打工。= I work (part-time) on weekends.

工作 is the general word “to work” / “job”:

我在医院工作。= I work in a hospital.

上班 is “to go to work / be on duty” (emphasis on going to one’s regular job):

我每天九点上班。= I start work at nine every day.

So here, 打工 suggests a side job or hourly work, not a stable full-time career job.

Could I replace 但是 with 可是 or 不过? Are there differences?

Yes, you can say:

周末我想出门打工，但是爸爸不同意。
周末我想出门打工，可是爸爸不同意。
周末我想出门打工，不过爸爸不同意。

All are commonly used to introduce contrast (“but / however”).

Subtle differences (not huge in everyday speech):

但是 – a bit more neutral/standard, works well in both spoken and written Chinese.
可是 – very common in spoken Chinese, can sound a bit more colloquial or emotional.
不过 – often has a “however / though” feel, sometimes a bit softer than 但是.

In most casual contexts, they’re interchangeable for learners.

Why is it just 爸爸 and not 我的爸爸 (my dad)?

Chinese often omits possessives like 我, 你, 他 when the context is obvious.

In a sentence where “my dad” is clearly meant, 爸爸 alone is usually understood as “my dad,” especially when the subject is 我 in the same sentence or nearby:

我不想去，可是爸爸要我去。
= I don’t want to go, but (my) dad wants me to.

If you need to be explicit (for contrast or clarity), you can say 我爸爸:

我爸爸不同意，妈妈同意。
= My dad doesn’t agree, (but) my mom does.

But in your sentence, 爸爸 by itself is completely natural.

Why is the negative 不 used before 同意 instead of 没(有)?

不 is used for:

habitual, general, or future negative
neutral statements of “not / don’t”

没(有) is mainly for:

past or completed actions/events that “did not happen / have not happened”

In 爸爸不同意, the meaning is “Dad doesn’t agree / won’t agree / is not agreeing (in general/this time),” not “Dad didn’t agree (on one specific occasion in the past as a completed event).”

So:

爸爸不同意。 – Dad doesn’t agree. (current attitude / general stance)
那天爸爸没同意。 – That day Dad didn’t agree. (a specific past event)

Is 不同意 like one word meaning “disagree”?

Grammatically, it’s just 不 (not) + 同意 (agree), but in practice 不同意 behaves almost like a single unit meaning “disagree / not agree.”

我同意。= I agree.
我不同意。= I disagree / I don’t agree.

You can treat 同意 as the main verb:

爸爸不太同意。= Dad doesn’t really agree.
他完全同意你的看法。= He completely agrees with your view.

How does the word order 周末我想出门打工 work? Why can verbs come one after another?

Basic structure:

周末 – time word
我 – subject
想 – main verb (“want to”)
出门打工 – what I want to do (a verb phrase made of two verbs)

So the pattern is:

[Time] + [Subject] + [Main verb] + [Action phrase]

Chinese often uses serial verbs, where two (or more) verbs appear in sequence to describe related actions:

我去买东西。= I’m going (去) to buy (买) things.
他下来吃饭。= He comes down (下来) to eat (吃) food.

Here, 出门打工 is “go out (出门) to work (打工).” The relationship “go out in order to work” is clear from context, without any word like “to / in order to.”

There’s no word for “will” or future tense. How do we know this is talking about the future weekend?

Chinese does not mark tense the way English does. Instead, it relies on:

time expressions (周末, 明天, 下个月, etc.)
context
sometimes aspect particles like 了, 过, 着

In 周末我想出门打工, 周末 (weekend) signals the (near) future. You don’t need a separate word like “will.” Depending on context, it can be translated as:

I want to go out to work this weekend.
I’d like to go out and work on weekends. (if speaking more generally)

If you want to be very explicitly future, you can add 要 or 打算, but 想 + time word is already enough in many situations.

How do you say “My dad doesn’t agree, but my mom does” using 同意?

You can say:

我爸爸不同意，但是我妈妈同意。
= My dad doesn’t agree, but my mom does.

Or more naturally in speech, you might drop the second 同意 and rely on context:

我爸爸不同意，但是我妈妈同意。 (still perfectly natural)
我爸爸不同意，可是我妈妈同意。

If the context is very clear, you could even say:

我爸爸不同意，可是我妈妈同意的。 (adding 的 for emphasis)