Learn Hardcore Chinese: Chāoshì lǐ jīntiān de píngguǒ kànqǐlái tèbié xīnxiān. - The apples in the supermarket today look especially fresh.

Context usually makes it clear what “today” means (freshly delivered, on sale today, etc.), but grammatically it’s just an attributive phrase modifying 苹果.

Why do we need 的 after 今天? Why not just 今天苹果?

When a word (or phrase) comes before a noun to describe it, Chinese usually uses 的 (de) as a linker:

今天的苹果 – today’s apples
上海的天气 – Shanghai’s weather
新的手机 – a new phone

So 今天 is an attributive phrase describing 苹果, and 的 is the “glue”.

You can drop 的 in certain very tight combinations (e.g. 今天早上, 中国人), but 今天苹果 is not a standard pattern. Here, 今天 is not part of a fixed word with 苹果, so you keep 的: 今天的苹果.

What’s the difference between 超市里今天的苹果 and 今天超市里的苹果? Are both correct?

Yes, both are correct, but the nuance and emphasis are slightly different.

超市里今天的苹果
- Emphasizes the supermarket first:
  - “The apples (today) in the supermarket look especially fresh.”
今天超市里的苹果
- Emphasizes today first:
  - “Today, the apples in the supermarket look especially fresh.”

Both will be understood the same in many contexts. Word order in Chinese often reflects what you want to highlight at the start of the sentence (topic).

What does 看起来 (kànqǐlái) mean here, and how is it used?

看起来 literally means “looks / looks like / appears (by looking)”.
Structure:

[Subject] + 看起来 + [adjective / description]

In this sentence:

超市里今天的苹果 – Subject
看起来 – “look / appear (to the eye)”
特别新鲜 – description

So: “The apples… look especially fresh.”

Other examples:

他看起来很累。 – He looks very tired.
这件衣服看起来不错。 – This piece of clothing looks pretty good.

Very similar to 看上去 (kànshàngqù) in everyday speech.

Why can 新鲜 be used without 是? Why don’t we say 是新鲜的?

In Chinese, many adjectives can function as verbs meaning “to be [adjective]”. You don’t need 是 between the subject and the adjective in a simple descriptive sentence.

苹果新鲜。 – The apples are fresh.
天气冷。 – The weather is cold.
他很高。 – He is tall.

In the sentence:

超市里今天的苹果看起来特别新鲜。

The structure is:

[Subject] + 看起来 + 特别 + 新鲜

Adding 是 here (看起来是特别新鲜的) is possible but adds a slight extra emphasis / formality, and is not necessary. The simple adjective predicate is the most natural.

What does 特别 (tèbié) mean here? Is it “special” or “especially / very”?

特别 has two main uses:

Adjective: “special”
- 今天有一个特别的活动。 – There is a special event today.
Adverb: “especially / particularly / very”
- 今天特别冷。 – It’s especially/very cold today.

In 特别新鲜, 特别 is an adverb of degree modifying 新鲜:

特别新鲜 = especially fresh / very fresh

So the sentence means:
“The apples in the supermarket today look especially fresh.”

Why is there no 的 between 特别 and 新鲜 (like 特别的新鲜)?

When an adverb (like 很, 非常, 特别) modifies an adjective in a predicate, you do not use 的:

很新鲜 – very fresh
非常好 – extremely good
特别贵 – especially expensive

You use 的 when an adjective/adverb phrase acts like an attributive before a noun:

特别新鲜的苹果 – especially fresh apples
- Here the whole phrase 特别新鲜的 modifies 苹果.

In the original sentence, 特别新鲜 is a predicate (what the apples look like), so no 的 is needed.

Is 超市里今天的苹果 the subject of the sentence? How is the sentence structured?

Yes. The basic structure is:

Subject: 超市里今天的苹果 – the apples (today) in the supermarket
Verb phrase: 看起来特别新鲜 – look especially fresh

So the overall pattern is:

[Subject] + 看起来 + [degree adverb] + [adjective]

More generally:

超市里今天的苹果 – “as for the apples (today) in the supermarket…”
看起来特别新鲜 – “they look especially fresh.”

How do we know if this means “look” in the present or “looked” in the past? There’s no tense marker.

Chinese doesn’t have verb tenses like English. Time is usually shown by:

time words (今天, 明天, 昨天, 现在, etc.), and
context.

今天 means “today”, which in many contexts implies a present situation:

“Today, the apples in the supermarket look especially fresh.”

But the same sentence could be used in a narrative describing a past day, if the storytelling context is clearly in the past. No extra verb change is needed.

If you really wanted to highlight that you are now looking at them, you might add 现在:

现在超市里今天的苹果看起来特别新鲜。
– “Right now, the apples in the supermarket today look especially fresh.”

Why isn’t there a plural marker like 们 on 苹果? How do we know it’s “apples” and not “apple”?

In Chinese, nouns usually don’t change form for plural. Context tells you whether it’s one or many.

苹果 can mean “apple” or “apples”.
们 is typically used only with people / pronouns (我们, 他们, 孩子们), not with things like apples.

In this sentence, “the apples (today) in the supermarket” is naturally understood as plural because:

supermarkets normally have many apples,
there is no measure like “one apple”.

If you want to be explicit, you can add a measure word:

一些苹果 – some apples
三个苹果 – three apples

Could we say 超市里面今天的苹果看起来特别新鲜 instead? Is there any difference between 里 and 里面?

Yes, you can say:

超市里面今天的苹果看起来特别新鲜。

里 and 里面 both mean “inside / in”.

里 – a bit shorter and very common in speech and writing.
里面 – slightly more explicit/“full”, often interchangeable with 里.

In this kind of sentence, 超市里 and 超市里面 sound almost the same in meaning. The difference is very subtle, and both are natural.