Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒmen zhōumò qù túshūguǎn kànkan nà běn xiǎoshuō ba. - Let’s go to the library this weekend and take a look at that novel.

Mandarin doesn’t use verb tense the way English does. There is no separate verb form for past / present / future; instead, time words and context do the job.

In 我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧, 周末 (“weekend”) tells you when the action happens. Since you’re speaking now and referring to a (usually) upcoming weekend, the natural interpretation is future: “(Let’s) go this weekend…”

You could make it even clearer by saying:

这个周末我们去图书馆看看那本小说吧。
This weekend let’s go to the library and have a look at that novel.

But even without 这个, native speakers usually understand 周末 here as “this coming weekend” from context.

Why is there no word for “to/at” before 图书馆? In English we say “go to the library”.

The verb 去 (qù) already contains the idea of “go to”. You don’t need an extra preposition:

去图书馆 = “go to the library”
去北京 = “go to Beijing”
去学校 = “go to school”

So 我们周末去图书馆… literally feels like “We, (on) the weekend, go-library…”, but the “to” is built into 去.

If you want to say “at the library” (location where something happens, not destination), then you use 在:

我们周末在图书馆看那本小说。
We will read that novel at the library this weekend.

Why is 周末 placed between 我们 and 去? Can I put 周末 somewhere else?

Yes. Time expressions in Mandarin are flexible. Common word orders are:

(Time) + (Subject) + (Place) + Verb + Object
- 周末我们去图书馆看看那本小说吧。
(Subject) + (Time) + (Place) + Verb + Object
- 我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。

Both are natural. Many textbooks teach:

Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object

So the sentence as given (我们周末去图书馆…) follows that pattern.

What you don’t normally do is put the time after the verb:

✗ 我们去周末图书馆看看那本小说吧。 (incorrect)

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

On its own, 周末 is flexible and can mean:

“this coming weekend”
“that weekend we’re talking about”
“on weekends (habitually)”

In this sentence, because there is 吧 making it a specific suggestion, it’s read as a specific upcoming weekend, usually “this weekend” in a real conversation.

For clarity you can say:

这个周末 – this weekend
上个周末 – last weekend
每个周末 – every weekend

What’s the difference between 看 and 看看 here? Why say 看看 instead of just 看?

看看 is the reduplication of 看, and reduplication softens the action:

看 by itself is neutral: “to look / to read / to watch”.
看看 suggests:
- a quick look
- a casual try
- something light, not heavy or serious

So:

去看那本小说 – go read that novel (more neutral, could imply actually reading it)
去看看那本小说 – go have a look at that novel (more casual, like “check it out”)

In suggestions, verb-verb forms like 看看, 试试, 想想 are very common and sound friendly and non‑pushy.

Could I say 看一下 instead of 看看? What’s the difference between 看看 and 看一下?

Both 看看 and 看一下 can mean “have a quick look”, and here they are both OK:

我们周末去图书馆看一下那本小说吧。
我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。

Nuances (very small):

看一下 literally emphasizes “one time / briefly”.
看看 emphasizes “a light, casual try / look” and sounds very colloquial and natural in spoken Chinese.

In many everyday contexts, they are interchangeable, and 看看 is extremely common in speech.

Why do we need 本 before 小说? Can’t we just say 那小说?

In Mandarin, countable nouns almost always need a measure word when you specify “this/that/one/two/etc.”.

For books, the standard measure word is 本 (běn).

那本小说 = “that (one) novel”
这本书 = “this (one) book”
三本词典 = “three dictionaries”

那小说 is possible but sounds either:

like a more casual / dialect-style shortening, or
like you’re talking about “that kind of fiction / that kind of novel” in a more abstract way.

For a specific, known book, 那本小说 is the normal, standard form.

What exactly does 那 add? How is 那本小说 different from 一本小说?

那本小说 = that novel (specific, known to both speaker and listener)
You both know which novel you’re talking about.
一本小说 = a novel / one novel (non‑specific)
Any novel; it’s not identified which one.

So:

去图书馆看看那本小说 – go look at that particular novel (e.g., the one we mentioned before).
去图书馆看看一本小说 – go look at a novel (some novel).

In the given sentence, 那本 shows you both already have a specific novel in mind.

What does the particle 吧 do at the end of the sentence?

吧 (ba) is a sentence-final particle often used to:

make suggestions or proposals
soften commands, making them sound more like “let’s…” or “why don’t we…”

So:

我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。
≈ “Let’s go to the library this weekend and have a look at that novel.”

Without 吧:

我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说。

This can sound more like a simple statement of plan:
“We’re going to the library this weekend to look at that novel.”
It’s still not rude, but it’s less clearly a suggestion and more like informing someone of your plan.

Could I use 吗 instead of 吧, like 我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吗?

Using 吗 here would change the meaning and sound odd:

吗 is mainly for yes/no questions.
吧 (in this sentence type) is for soft suggestions.

我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吗？
literally asks: “Are we going to the library this weekend to look at that novel?” It’s a question about whether that plan is happening, not a suggestion.

If you want to invite/suggest, 吧 is the natural choice.

Why is there no word for “let’s” or “shall we”? How do we know it’s an invitation?

Mandarin doesn’t need a word equivalent to “let’s” to make a suggestion. Instead, it uses:

First-person plural (我们 “we”)
A future‑ish or planned action
Sentence-final particle, especially 吧

Putting 我们 at the start and 吧 at the end is a very common way to say “Let’s …”:

我们走吧。 – Let’s go.
我们点菜吧。 – Let’s order.
我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。 – Let’s go to the library this weekend and have a look at that novel.

So the combination 我们 + (plan) + 吧 signals an invitation/suggestion.

Can we omit 我们 and still be correct?

Yes, if it’s already clear from context who is included, you can drop 我们:

周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。

In a conversation where you’re talking directly to someone, this will still usually be understood as “Let’s go…” (you and me/us).
Mandarin often omits subjects when they are obvious from context.

Is the word order “Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object” fixed? Where do 周末 and 图书馆 normally go?

The default neutral order often taught is:

Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object

So:

我们 (Subject)
周末 (Time)
去图书馆 (Place/direction)
看看 (Verb)
那本小说 (Object)

You can usually move the time word in front of the subject:

周末我们去图书馆看看那本小说吧。 (very natural)

The place/direction phrase (去图书馆) normally comes before the main action verb (看看) and before the object. You don’t usually put the place after the object in this kind of sentence.

Do we need 了 anywhere to show that the action is planned or will be completed?

No. 了 primarily marks aspect (change of state, completion), not future. For a future plan or suggestion, you normally don’t need 了 at all.

我们周末去图书馆看看那本小说吧。 – natural, no 了 needed.

If you talk after you’ve done it, you might say:

我们周末去了图书馆，看了那本小说。
We went to the library this weekend and read that novel.

Here 了 marks completed actions in the past, but it is not used to mark future plans.