Learn Hardcore Japanese: konya ha genkou wo mou itido yonde kara nemasu. - Tonight I will read the script once more and then go to sleep.

gives it focus or contrast:
- 今夜は原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。
  → Tonight (at least / especially), I’ll read the manuscript once more and then sleep.
  (Implied contrast: maybe other nights I don’t, or tonight is special.)

今夜に would be very unusual here. ～に with time is used in more limited cases (exact clock times, scheduled events, etc.), and still often omitted in casual speech:

７時に寝ます。 – I’ll sleep at 7.
But: 今夜寝ます。 is fine and natural; 今夜に寝ます sounds off.

What’s the difference between 今夜 and 今晩?

Both generally mean tonight and are often interchangeable. Nuance:

今夜（こんや）
- Slightly more literary/formal or written feel.
- Common in narration, announcements, weather reports, written Japanese, etc.
今晩（こんばん）
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Feels a bit more conversational.

In your sentence, you could also say:

今晩は原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。

The meaning is basically the same: Tonight I’ll read the manuscript once more and then go to sleep.

Where is the subject “I” in this sentence? Why isn’t 私 used?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s obvious from context.

寝ます is in polite form (ます-form), and in a normal conversation about your own plans, the default interpretation is “I will sleep.”
So the full idea in English is:
- (I) will read the manuscript once more tonight and then sleep.

You could explicitly say:

今夜は私は原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。

But that sounds heavy or overly explicit in most contexts. Omitting 私 is more natural unless you need to contrast subjects (e.g., As for me, I’ll sleep; as for him, he’ll keep working).

What exactly does 原稿 mean? Is it just “document”?

原稿（げんこう） is more specific than just “document.” It usually means:

manuscript, draft, or the text to be submitted/published:
- a book manuscript
- a script (for a speech, play, newscast)
- an article draft
- written text you’re preparing for something

Examples:

原稿を締め切りまでに出さなければなりません。
– I have to submit the manuscript by the deadline.
スピーチの原稿を用意しました。
– I prepared a script for my speech.

In your sentence, 原稿を読む = to read (through) the manuscript/draft.

What does もう add in もう一度? How is this different from just 一度 or from また?

Breakdown:

一度（いちど） = one time / once
もう = already; or (in this pattern) more / again
もう一度 literally = one more time → again / once more

Nuances:

一度読む – read once (no “again” implied).
もう一度読む – read one more time, on top of however many times before.
また読む – read again, but less specific about “how many more times” (doesn’t highlight the one more part).

In your sentence:

原稿をもう一度読んで = read the manuscript one more time (i.e., reread it).

Can I say もう一回 instead of もう一度? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can. Both are very common and understood:

もう一度（いちど）
- Slightly more neutral/polite.
- Common in both spoken and written language.
もう一回（いっかい）
- Feels a bit more casual/spoken.
- Often used in everyday conversation.

In your sentence:

今夜は原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。
今夜は原稿をもう一回読んでから寝ます。

Both mean the same thing: Tonight I’ll read the manuscript one more time and then go to sleep.

What does the ～てから pattern (読んでから) mean exactly?

Verb-て + から means:

“after doing X (then) do Y”
The action before から must be completed first.

Structure:

Vて + から + main verb
- 読んでから寝ます。
  → After (I) read, (I) will sleep.

In your sentence:

原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。
= After I read the manuscript once more, I’ll sleep.

This is similar to:

原稿をもう一度読んだあとで寝ます。

Both mean after. ～てから often feels a bit more direct and commonly used in speech.

How is 読んでから different from 読んだあとで?

Both express “after reading”, but subtle differences:

読んでから寝ます。
- Focuses on the sequence: do A, then B.
- Implies you move on to sleeping immediately or naturally after finishing reading.
読んだあとで寝ます。
- Grammatically similar: I’ll sleep after (I have) read.
- Can feel slightly more neutral or descriptive.
- Sometimes allows more mental distance between the two actions.

In everyday conversation, they’re often interchangeable, and 読んでから is very common and natural. In your sentence, 読んでから寝ます is the most natural choice.

Why is 寝ます in ます-form, but 読んで is in て-form? How do the verbs work together here?

In Japanese, only the final verb in the sentence shows the main tense and politeness. The preceding action verbs often appear in て-form to connect actions.

読んで – the て-form of 読む (to read), used to connect to the next action.
寝ます – polite non-past form of 寝る (to sleep), the main verb of the sentence.

Pattern:

V1-て V2
- Often: do V1 and then do V2, or V1 as a condition before V2.
- With ～てから, it becomes explicitly “after V1, (then) V2.”

So:

原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。
- 読んで – “(I) read it (in order to then…)”
- 寝ます – “(I) will sleep.”

Could I change the word order, like 今夜はもう一度原稿を読んでから寝ます or 今夜は原稿を読んでもう一度寝ます?

Some changes are fine; others change the meaning.

今夜はもう一度原稿を読んでから寝ます。
- Moves もう一度 before 原稿.
- Still natural and means the same thing:
  → Tonight I’ll read the manuscript one more time and then sleep.
今夜は原稿を読んでもう一度寝ます。
- Here もう一度 modifies 寝ます (sleep again), not 読む.
- Meaning: Tonight I’ll read the manuscript and then sleep one more time.
- Suggests you’ve already slept once and will sleep again, which is a different idea.

The key:

原稿をもう一度読む – read the manuscript one more time.
もう一度寝る – sleep one more time / sleep again.

So be careful where you place もう一度. Both:

原稿をもう一度読んでから
もう一度原稿を読んでから

are fine and keep the intended meaning.

Does this sentence refer to the future even though it uses 寝ます and not a special future tense?

Yes. Japanese doesn’t have a separate future tense the way English does. The non-past form (～ます / ～る) covers:

present (habitual)
and future actions

So:

寝ます。 can be:
- I sleep (habitually)
- or I will sleep (future), depending on context.

Here, with 今夜は (tonight) and planning-like content, it clearly means:

今夜は … 寝ます。
→ Tonight I will sleep (after doing X).

No extra future marker is necessary.

How would I say “before I sleep” instead of “after I read”?

To say “before doing X”, you use:

Verb-dictionary form + 前に（まえに）

So:

寝る前に原稿をもう一度読みます。
→ Before I sleep, I’ll read the manuscript one more time.

Compare:

原稿をもう一度読んでから寝ます。 – After reading (then) I’ll sleep.
寝る前に原稿をもう一度読みます。 – Before sleeping, I’ll read (it) once more.

They describe the same time relationship but from different angles: before sleeping vs. after reading.