Esta noche no me apetece salir; prefiero descansar en casa.

In Spain, apetecer is a very common verb for expressing what you feel like doing.

So no me apetece salir means something like:

• I don’t feel like going out
• I’m not in the mood to go out

It does not literally mean I do not want in a strong sense. It often sounds softer and more natural when talking about mood or inclination.

For example:

• Me apetece un café. = I feel like having a coffee.
• No me apetece hablar. = I don’t feel like talking.

Because apetecer works a bit like gustar.

In English, we say I feel like going out, where I is the person having the feeling. In Spanish, the structure is different: the thing or action is what appeals to you.

So:

• me = to me
• apetece = is appealing / sounds good

Literally, me apetece salir is closer to:

• Going out appeals to me
• Going out sounds good to me

That is why you use the indirect object pronoun me:

• me apetece = it appeals to me
• te apetece = it appeals to you
• le apetece = it appeals to him/her

Examples:

• Me apetece descansar.
• ¿Te apetece cenar fuera?
• No le apetece venir.

Because the subject of apetecer here is the infinitive salir.

An infinitive such as salir is treated as a singular idea, so the verb goes in the singular:

• Me apetece salir.
• Me apetece descansar.

But if the thing that appeals to you is plural, then you use apetecen:

• Me apetecen unas vacaciones. = I feel like a holiday / I fancy a holiday.
• Me apetecen tapas. = I feel like tapas.

So:

• salir → singular idea → apetece
• unas vacaciones / tapas → plural nouns → apetecen

Because after verbs like apetecer and preferir, Spanish often uses another verb in the infinitive, just like English often uses to + verb or the -ing form.

Here:

• me apetece salir = I feel like going out
• prefiero descansar = I prefer to rest

The infinitive is the basic dictionary form of the verb:

• salir = to go out
• descansar = to rest

This is very common in Spanish:

• Quiero dormir.
• Necesito estudiar.
• Prefiero quedarme en casa.

This is an important nuance.

No me apetece salir means:

• I don’t feel like going out
• I’m not in the mood to go out

It sounds softer and more about your mood right now.

No quiero salir means:

• I don’t want to go out

This can sound stronger, more direct, and sometimes more final.

So if you simply mean that tonight you would rather stay in, no me apetece salir is often the more natural choice in Spain.

Compare:

• Hoy no me apetece hablar. = I’m not in the mood to talk today.
• No quiero hablar. = I don’t want to talk.

The second one can sound firmer or harsher depending on context.

Because preferir is a stem-changing verb.

In the present tense, the e in the stem changes to ie in most forms:

• yo prefiero
• tú prefieres
• él/ella prefiere
• nosotros preferimos
• vosotros preferís
• ellos prefieren

So in this sentence:

• prefiero descansar en casa = I prefer to rest at home

This is a very common pattern in Spanish. Other verbs behave similarly, such as:

• querer → quiero
• pensar → pienso
• cerrar → cierro

Yes, absolutely.

The original sentence says:

• prefiero descansar en casa = I prefer to rest at home

If you say:

• prefiero quedarme en casa = I prefer to stay at home

the meaning changes slightly:

• descansar en casa focuses on resting
• quedarse en casa focuses on staying at home

Both are very natural, and in many situations both would work.

In Spanish, en casa is the normal expression for at home or home in a general sense.

So:

• Estoy en casa. = I’m at home.
• Prefiero descansar en casa. = I prefer to rest at home.

If you say en la casa, it usually refers to a specific house as a physical building, not just the general idea of home.

Compare:

• Estoy en casa. = I’m at home.
• Estoy en la casa de Ana. = I’m in Ana’s house.

So in your sentence, en casa is exactly what you would expect.

Yes. In this sentence, esta noche is best translated as tonight.

Literally it is this night, but in natural English we say tonight.

Examples:

• Esta noche no salgo. = I’m not going out tonight.
• ¿Qué haces esta noche? = What are you doing tonight?

In Spain, noche can refer to the evening/night period, especially when talking about going out, dinner, nightlife, or plans after dark.

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• Esta noche no me apetece salir
• prefiero descansar en casa

It shows that the second part explains or contrasts with the first part.

You could also write this with:

• a full stop: Esta noche no me apetece salir. Prefiero descansar en casa.
• a comma in more informal writing, although the semicolon is cleaner here

The semicolon is a punctuation choice, not a grammar requirement. It simply makes the relationship between the two clauses clear.

Yes. That is one of the most useful things about apetecer.

You can use it with:

1. an action

   • Me apetece salir.
   • No me apetece estudiar.

2. a thing

   • Me apetece un helado.
   • No me apetece café.

In Spain, this verb is extremely common in everyday conversation.

Yes. Apetecer is very common and very natural in Spain, especially in spoken language.

A learner of Spanish from Spain will hear things like:

• ¿Te apetece tomar algo? = Do you feel like having something?
• Me apetece ir al cine. = I feel like going to the cinema.
• No me apetece mucho. = I don’t really feel like it.

In many Latin American varieties, people may use other expressions more often depending on the country, but apetecer is still understood.

So if your focus is Spanish from Spain, this sentence sounds very natural.

No, that would be incorrect.

The correct pattern is:

• no me apetece salir

That is because, again, apetecer does not work like a normal verb such as quiero or prefiero in this structure. It works more like gustar:

• Me gusta salir
• Me apetece salir

Not:

• Yo gusto salir ❌
• Yo apetezco salir ❌

So it is best to learn apetecer as a pattern:

• me apetece + infinitive / singular noun
• me apetecen + plural noun

A little, yes, but the original order is the most natural.

Standard version:

• Esta noche no me apetece salir; prefiero descansar en casa.

You could also say:

• No me apetece salir esta noche; prefiero descansar en casa.

That still sounds natural and means basically the same thing.

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, but beginners should usually keep the more neutral order unless they have a reason to shift emphasis. In the original sentence, Esta noche at the beginning sets the time frame immediately, which sounds very natural.