wǒ xiǎng qǐng nǐ gàosu wǒ zhè shì shénme yìsi.

Because the two 我 do different jobs.

• The first 我 is the subject of 想: 我想 = I would like / I want.
• The second 我 is the person receiving the information: 告诉我 = tell me.

So the structure is:

我 想 请你 告诉我 这是什么意思。

This is similar to English sentences like I want you to tell me..., where I also appears more than once in the full idea.

Here 想 means want to or would like to, not think.

想 can have more than one meaning in Mandarin, including:

• to think
• to want to
• to miss someone

In this sentence, because 想 is followed by an action, it expresses intention or desire:

• 我想请你... = I would like to ask you...

So this is not I think here.

Here 请 means to ask someone to do something.

So 请你告诉我 is closer to:

• ask you to tell me
• or please tell me

请 is very flexible in Mandarin. It can mean:

• please
• to invite
• to ask/request

In this sentence, it has the request meaning.

Because 你 is the person being asked.

A common pattern is:

请 + person + verb phrase

So:

• 请你告诉我 = please tell me / I ask you to tell me

You can also omit 你 and say:

• 请告诉我这是什么意思。

That sounds very natural too. Including 你 makes the listener more explicit.

告诉 means to tell, and it normally takes a person as an object.

Pattern:

告诉 + person + information

So:

• 告诉我 = tell me
• 告诉我这是什么意思 = tell me what this means

You could use 说, but 告诉 is more natural when the focus is on giving information to someone.

Compare:

• 告诉我 = tell me
• 跟我说 = speak to me / say to me

In this sentence, 告诉 fits better.

Mandarin uses a different question structure from English.

这是什么意思 breaks down as:

• 这 = this
• 是 = is
• 什么 = what
• 意思 = meaning

So literally it is:

This is what meaning?

That is the normal Mandarin way to say What does this mean?

English moves the question word to the front and uses does:

• What does this mean?

Mandarin usually leaves the question word in the position where the answer would go:

• 这是什么意思？

That is a very important difference between English and Mandarin.

Because 什么 is modifying 意思.

The phrase 什么意思 literally means:

• what meaning

This is a very common Mandarin pattern:

什么 + noun

For example:

• 什么人 = what person / who
• 什么事 = what matter / what thing
• 什么意思 = what meaning

So 什么 comes before 意思 because it describes the kind of meaning being asked about.

是 links 这 and 什么意思.

The structure is:

这 是 什么意思

Literally:

• this + is + what meaning

So 是 works as the linking verb to be.

In casual spoken Chinese, people sometimes shorten things and say 这什么意思？, but 这是什么意思？ is the full standard form and is best for learners to use first.

It is grammatical and understandable, but it is a bit more roundabout than what people often say in everyday conversation.

More common alternatives include:

• 请告诉我这是什么意思。
• 我想知道这是什么意思。
• 请问，这是什么意思？

These are often more natural depending on the situation.

Your sentence sounds like:

• I would like to ask you to tell me what this means.

That is polite and clear, but slightly more formal or indirect than necessary in many everyday situations.

Because the whole sentence is actually a statement, not a direct question.

The main clause is:

• 我想请你告诉我... = I would like to ask you to tell me...

That is a statement of intention or request.

Inside it, there is an embedded question:

• 这是什么意思 = what this means

So a period is possible because the full sentence is not directly asking What does this mean? It is saying I want to ask you to tell me what this means.

If you ask directly, then you would use a question mark:

• 这是什么意思？

Yes, absolutely. That is the most direct and common way to ask about the meaning of something.

• 这是什么意思？ = What does this mean?

If you want to be more polite, you can add:

• 请问，这是什么意思？

If you want to turn it into more of a request, you can say:

• 请告诉我这是什么意思。

So the short version is very useful and very common.

A native speaker might often say one of these:

• 请问，这是什么意思？
• 请告诉我这是什么意思。
• 你可以告诉我这是什么意思吗？
• 我想请教一下，这是什么意思。

These all sound natural, but they have slightly different tones:

• 请问 = polite opener, like may I ask
• 请告诉我 = direct but polite request
• 你可以...吗？ = softer, like could you...
• 请教一下 = especially polite when asking for explanation or guidance

Yes. In natural speech, some second syllables are often light or neutral.

Common pronunciations:

• 告诉 → gàosu
• 什么 → shénme
• 意思 → yìsi

So even though the dictionary may show full syllables, everyday speech often weakens the second syllable.

This is very normal in Mandarin and worth getting used to early.