شما امشب تلویزیون تماشا میکنید یا به موسیقی گوش میدهید؟

شما means you. It is used for:

• formal singular: speaking politely to one person
• plural: speaking to more than one person

That is why the verbs also end in -ید, which matches شما:

• می‌کنید = you do / you are doing
• می‌دهید = you give / you are giving

In casual singular speech, you would usually use تو and different verb forms, such as می‌کنی and می‌دهی.

امشب means tonight.

It often appears near the beginning of the sentence because Persian commonly puts time expressions early, before the main action:

• شما امشب تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنید...
• literally: you tonight TV watch...

This placement is very natural in Persian, though Persian word order is somewhat flexible.

Persian usually follows Subject + Object + Verb word order.

So in this sentence:

• شما = subject
• تلویزیون = object
• تماشا می‌کنید = verb phrase

That is why تلویزیون comes before the verb. English usually says watch TV, but Persian puts the object first and the verb at the end of the clause.

Yes. تماشا is originally a noun meaning something like watching or viewing, and تماشا کردن is a very common compound verb meaning to watch.

So:

• تماشا کردن = to watch
• تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنید = you watch TV / you are watching TV

Persian uses many compound verbs like this, where a noun or other element combines with a light verb such as کردن.

Because the two verbs work differently.

• تلویزیون تماشا کردن takes a direct object, so no به is needed.
• به موسیقی گوش دادن requires به.

The expression گوش دادن به... means to listen to...

So:

• به موسیقی گوش می‌دهید = you listen to music

You should learn گوش دادن together with به, because they normally go as a set.

Literally, گوش means ear, and دادن means to give. So word-for-word, گوش دادن is something like to give ear.

But as a fixed expression, it simply means to listen.

So:

• به موسیقی گوش می‌دهید = you listen to music

This is a good example of why literal translation is not always the best guide in Persian.

می- is the usual marker for the present/imperfective stem in Persian. In many contexts, it gives meanings like:

• do / are doing
• give / are giving
• habitual or ongoing action

So:

• می‌کنید = you do / you are doing
• می‌دهید = you give / you are giving

In this sentence, because of امشب, the meaning is naturally something like are you watching... tonight or will you be watching... tonight depending on context.

Grammatically, it is a present-form sentence, but Persian very often uses the present to talk about near future or planned future actions.

So with امشب meaning tonight, the sentence can naturally mean:

• Are you watching TV tonight or listening to music?
• or Will you watch TV tonight or listen to music?

Persian often does this without a separate future marker.

In Persian, intonation alone can make a sentence into a question, especially in speech and informal writing.

So this can simply be a question because of tone and the question mark:

• شما امشب ... ؟

Persian can also use آیا at the beginning for a more explicit question:

• آیا شما امشب تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنید یا به موسیقی گوش می‌دهید؟

But آیا is often omitted in everyday language.

یا means or.

It connects the two alternatives:

• تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنید
• یا
• به موسیقی گوش می‌دهید

So the speaker is offering a choice between two actions.

That is a very common learner question. را often marks a specific direct object, but it is not always used.

Here, تلویزیون is being used in a general, activity-like sense: watch TV, not watch the television set as a specific object. In this kind of phrase, Persian often leaves out را.

Compare the idea:

• تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنم = I watch TV
• این فیلم را تماشا می‌کنم = I am watching this film

With a more specific object, را is much more likely.

The standard modern spelling is می‌کنید with a joiner between می and the verb.

Likewise:

• می‌دهید
• می‌کنید

However, many people type it without the joiner as:

• میکنید
• میدهید

You will see both online, but می‌کنید and می‌دهید are the more standard written forms.

If you were speaking casually to one person, you would usually use تو and singular informal verb endings:

• تو امشب تلویزیون تماشا می‌کنی یا به موسیقی گوش می‌دهی؟

Changes:

• شما → تو
• می‌کنید → می‌کنی
• می‌دهید → می‌دهی

So the original sentence sounds either polite or plural.