Questions & Answers about Что они хотят делать вечером?
Why is the 'they' form of the verb хотеть (to want) хотят instead of following a normal pattern?
Хотеть is a highly irregular verb. In the singular forms (I, you, he/she), it uses a ч stem and first-conjugation endings (like я хочу, ты хочешь). But in the plural forms (we, you, they), it switches back to a т stem and uses second-conjugation endings, giving us они хотят (they want).
Why do we use the dictionary form делать (to do) instead of matching it to 'they'?
When you have two verbs together expressing a single idea, like 'want to do', you only conjugate the first verb. Хотят shows who wants (they), while the second verb делать stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form. This works exactly like English!
The word for evening is вечер. Why does it have an -ом ending here?
Adding -ом to parts of the day changes them from a simple noun to a time expression. While вечер means 'evening', вечером means 'in the evening'. You will see this same pattern with утром (in the morning) and днем (in the afternoon).
How do I pronounce Что at the beginning of the sentence?
Even though it is spelled with the letter Ч (which usually makes a 'ch' sound), this very common word is an exception. It is always pronounced as if it starts with Ш, sounding like 'shto'.