Learn Hardcore Chinese: jīntiān de gōngzuò méiyǒu zuótiān nàme máng. - Today’s work is not as busy as yesterday.

Without 的, 今天工作 is still understandable and also commonly said, but 今天的工作 is slightly more “noun‑y” and can sound a bit more specific/formal, like “the work for today” as a unit.

Why doesn’t 昨天 (yesterday) also have a 的, like 昨天的那么忙?

Here the structure is different:

今天的工作 → 今天 (today) modifies 工作 (work), a noun → so we use 的.
昨天那么忙 → 昨天 (yesterday) modifies the whole state 那么忙 (that busy), which is an adjective phrase, not a noun.

Time words before adjective/verb phrases normally do not take 的:

我昨天很忙。= I was busy yesterday. (correct)
*我昨天的很忙。 (wrong)

So:

今天的工作 = a noun phrase (today’s work).
昨天那么忙 = a whole situation (being that busy yesterday), no 的 needed.

What is the basic structure of the sentence 今天的工作没有昨天那么忙?

You can divide it like this:

今天的工作 – subject / topic: today’s work
没有 – negative comparative: is not as / does not have as…
昨天那么忙 – reference standard: that busy (as it was) yesterday

Overall pattern:
A 没有 B 那么 + adjective
→ A is not as adjective as B.

So:

今天的工作 (A)
没有 (not as)
昨天那么忙 (as busy as yesterday)

Why is 没有 (méiyǒu) used instead of just 不 (bù)?

In this pattern, A 没有 B 那么 + adjective is the standard way to say “A is not as … as B.”

Historically the idea is:
> A does not have (没有) as much degree of X as B.

So 没有 naturally fits the comparison of amount/degree.

You can’t say:

✗ 今天的工作不昨天那么忙. (ungrammatical)

You can use 不 in other comparative patterns, but with 那么/这么 and 没有, the fixed pattern is:

A 没有 B 那么/这么 + adj

Examples:

他没有我那么高。= He’s not as tall as I am.
这里没有那边这么安静。= It’s not as quiet here as over there.

What does 那么 (nàme) mean here? Is it necessary?

那么 literally means “that (degree)” and is used to talk about degree of an adjective:

那么忙 = that busy
那么贵 = that expensive
那么冷 = that cold

In A 没有 B 那么 + adj, 那么 signals “degree.”
Could we remove it here?

今天的工作没有昨天忙。
This is possible in speech and can be understood as “Today’s work is not as busy as yesterday,” but the most natural and clear comparative with “not as … as …” uses 那么/这么:
今天的工作没有昨天那么忙。✔ (very natural)

So 那么 isn’t absolutely required for understanding, but it is part of the most standard, textbook‑natural pattern.

What’s the difference between 那么 (nàme) and 这么 (zhème) in this kind of sentence?

Both indicate degree, but they differ in perspective:

这么 – this (degree), close to the speaker (often about now / here).
那么 – that (degree), more distant (often about something mentioned, remembered, or “over there”).

In comparative sentences like this, you’ll often see:

A 没有 B 那么忙 – A is not as busy as B (that busy, like B was/is).

If you were comparing to something very immediate or talking about right now, you could hear:

今天的工作没有这么忙。
→ “Today’s work isn’t this busy” (e.g., looking at a schedule that looks very busy but actually isn’t that bad).

But when referencing yesterday as a remembered state, 那么 sounds more natural:

昨天那么忙 = that busy (like it was yesterday).

Where is the verb “to be” (like “is”) in this sentence?

Chinese doesn’t always use a separate word like English “is” before adjectives.

In Chinese, an adjective can function directly as a predicate:

今天很忙。= Today (is) very busy.
他很高。= He (is) tall.

In 今天的工作没有昨天那么忙:

The predicate is the whole comparative phrase 没有昨天那么忙.
There’s no 是 because we’re not equating two nouns (A is B), we’re describing a state (A is not as busy as B).

You’d use 是 mainly for noun = noun:

他是老师。= He is a teacher.

Can 忙 (máng) be a verb like “to be busy” in English?

In Chinese grammar terms, 忙 is usually treated as an adjective meaning “busy.”

我很忙。= I’m busy. (literally “I very busy.”)

However, in English we often translate it as “to be busy,” which feels verbal. In Chinese it functions like an adjective predicate:

今天的工作没有昨天那么忙。
→ “Today’s work is not as busy as yesterday (was).”

It doesn’t take an object the way a true verb would; you don’t say “忙工作” to mean “busy work” in the sense of “to busy (yourself) with work.” Instead you say:

忙工作 / 忙着工作 → “(be) busy with work / busy working”
(here 忙 is still “busy,” and 工作 is the thing you are busy with.)

Could I say 今天的工作比昨天不那么忙 instead? Is that correct?

今天的工作比昨天不那么忙 is grammatically possible but sounds awkward and not very natural.

More natural options:

今天的工作没有昨天那么忙。 (your sentence)
→ Most natural “not as busy as yesterday.”
今天的工作没昨天那么忙。
→ Same meaning; drop the second 有, very common in speech.
今天的工作比昨天不那么忙。
→ Literally “Today’s work, compared with yesterday, is not so busy.”
Grammatically OK, but 比…不那么… is much less common and can feel slightly clunky.

For a straightforward “not as busy as yesterday,” stick with 没有…那么….

Can I drop 的 or 工作 and still be correct? For example: 今天工作没昨天那么忙 or 今天没昨天那么忙?

Yes, Chinese is very flexible with dropping elements when context is clear.

All of these are possible:

今天的工作没有昨天那么忙。
今天工作没有昨天那么忙。
→ Drops 的. Very common; meaning is the same.
今天工作没昨天那么忙。
→ Also drops 有 (from 没有). Still natural in conversation.
今天没昨天那么忙。
→ Drops 工作 entirely. Interpreted as “Today (I/we/it) am/are not as busy as yesterday.”

In real speech, (4) is extremely common if it’s clear from context that you’re talking about “work” or “schedule” or “life.”

How do we know this sentence is talking about today vs yesterday in time, if there are no tense endings like in English?

Chinese doesn’t mark tense (past/present/future) on the verb the way English does. Instead it uses:

Time words (今天, 昨天, 明天, 现在…)
Aspect particles (了, 过, 着…)
Context

In your sentence, the time contrast is done entirely with 今天 and 昨天:

今天的工作… = the work of today (present).
昨天那么忙 = that busy (as it was) yesterday (past).

So even though the verb/adjective 忙 doesn’t change form, the presence of 今天 / 昨天 anchors the time.

Is 没有 (méiyǒu) here one word or two? Does 有 really mean “have” in this sentence?

Functionally, 没有 here works as one unit meaning “not as (much as).”

Historically and literally:

有 = “to have”
没有 = “to not have”

In A 没有 B 那么忙, you can think of it as:

A does not have as much “busy‑ness” as B.

Over time, this has become a fixed comparative pattern, so learners usually just memorize:

A 没有 B 那么 + adj = A is not as … as B.

You can sometimes drop 有 in speech:

今天的工作没昨天那么忙。
→ Same meaning; still understood as the same pattern.

How should I pronounce 的 (de) and 么 (me) here? Do they have tones?

Both 的 and 么 here are in the neutral tone (轻声), which is light and short:

的 in 今天的工作 → de (neutral, no tone mark)
么 in 那么 → often pronounced as me with a light, neutral tone in fast speech, though dictionaries mark 那么 as nàme (4‑neutral) or sometimes nàme (4‑light).

So the tones for the whole sentence in pinyin:

今天的工作没有昨天那么忙。
→ jīn (1) tiān (1) de (neutral) gōng (1) zuò (4)
méi (2) yǒu (3) zuó (2) tiān (1)
nà (4) me (neutral/light) máng (2)

In natural speech, 的 and 么 are both very light and unstressed.