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wǎnshang wǒ jiā yǒu hěnduō kèrén.

晚上wǎnshang　我wǒ　家jiā　有yǒu　很多hěnduō　客人kèrén。wǎnshang wǒ jiā yǒu hěnduō kèrén.
There are many guests at my home in the evening.
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Questions & Answers about wǎnshang wǒ jiā yǒu hěnduō kèrén.

Why do we use 有 (yǒu) here? I thought it just meant “to have”.

In this sentence, 有 is used in the existential structure:

(Place) + 有 + (Thing/People)
我家有很多客人。
“At my home, there are many guests.”

So 有 here is closer to English “there is / there are” than “have/own.”

  • 我家 = the place (my home)
  • 有 = there is / there are
  • 很多客人 = many guests

You cannot use 是 (shì) in this pattern.
❌ 我家是很多客人 is ungrammatical.
You must use 有 for “there are many guests at my home.”

Why is there no word like “there” (as in “there are”) in the Chinese sentence?

Chinese does not need a separate word for “there” in existential sentences. The structure:

Place + 有 + People/Things

already encodes the meaning of “there is/are … in/at that place.”

  • 我家有很多客人。
    Literally: “My home has many guests.”
    Natural English: “There are many guests at my place.”

So 我家 covers the idea of “there (at my home)” and 有 functions like “there is/are.” No extra “there” word is used.

Why is it 我家有很多客人 and not 在我家有很多客人?

In the place + 有 structure, the place word usually stands directly before 有:

  • ✔ 我家有很多客人。
  • ✔ 家里有很多客人。
  • ✔ 学校有很多学生。

Adding 在 before the place is usually unnecessary and often sounds awkward:

  • ❌ 在我家有很多客人。 (generally unnatural)

If you want to use 在, you normally have to re-structure the sentence:

  • ✔ 在我家，晚上有很多客人。
    “At my home, in the evenings there are many guests.”

Here 在我家 is a separate location phrase set off by a pause (or comma in writing), not directly before 有 as part of the place + 有 pattern.

What exactly does 我家 (wǒjiā) mean? Is it “my family” or “my house”?

我家 can mean both, depending on context:

  1. My home / my place (location)

    • In this sentence, 我家 is a place, so the meaning is “at my home / at my place.”
    • 我家有很多客人。 = “There are many guests at my home.”

  2. My family (as a unit)

    • Example: 我家有四口人。
      “There are four people in my family.”

So 家 is very flexible: “home,” “household,” “family.”
Here, with 客人, it is naturally understood as the location “my home / my place.”

Why is 晚上 (wǎnshang) at the beginning? Could it go somewhere else?

Chinese likes to put time expressions early in the sentence:

(Time) + (Place/Subject) + Verb + …

Your sentence:

  • 晚上 我家 有 很多 客人。
    Time (晚上) → place/subject (我家) → verb (有) → object (很多客人)

You can also move 晚上 a bit:

  • ✔ 我家晚上有很多客人。
  • ✔ 晚上，我家有很多客人。 (adds a slight pause/emphasis)

All are grammatical.

  • 晚上我家有很多客人。 tends to emphasize the time: “In the evenings, there are many guests at my place.”
  • 我家晚上有很多客人。 slightly emphasizes my place: “At my place, in the evenings, there are many guests.”

The meaning difference is subtle; all are natural.

Does 晚上 mean “this evening/tonight” or “evenings in general”?

On its own, 晚上 is ambiguous between:

  • “in the evening / at night (in general)”
  • “this evening / tonight” (if the context is about today)

Context usually decides:

  • Talking about a habit:
    晚上我家有很多客人。
    → “In the evenings, there are many guests at my place.” (habitual)

  • Talking about today:
    In a conversation about today’s plans, the same sentence can easily be understood as:
    → “Tonight there are many guests at my place.”

If you want to be explicit:

  • 今天晚上我家有很多客人。 – “This evening / tonight…”
  • 每天晚上我家都有很多客人。 – “Every evening…”
Why don’t we say 晚上在我家有很多客人 (time + 在 + place + 有…)?

You can say:

  • 晚上，在我家有很多客人。

with a slight pause after 晚上, but it’s stylistically heavier and not needed in normal speech.

In the basic place + 有 pattern, the place phrase (here 我家) goes straight before 有 without 在:

  • ✔ 晚上我家有很多客人。
  • ✔ 晚上家里有很多客人。

If you add 在, it usually marks an independent location phrase:

  • ✔ 晚上，在我家，有很多客人。
    (grammatical, but sounds like written style or strong emphasis)

In everyday conversation, people just say 我家有… with no 在.

Why is there no plural ending like 们 on 客人? Why not 客人们?

In Chinese, 们 (men) is not a general plural marker. It is:

  • Used mostly with personal pronouns (我们，你们，他们)
  • Sometimes with human nouns when you’re emphasizing a specific group:
    同学们 “(dear) students,” 老师们 “teachers (as an addressed group)”

For 客人:

  • 客人 on its own can already be singular or plural depending on context.
  • 很多客人 unambiguously means “many guests.”
  • 客人们 is possible but sounds like you’re talking about a specific, known group of guests and often has a literary or rhetorical flavor.

So 晚上我家有很多客人。 is the natural way to say it. No extra plural marker is needed.

Do we need a measure word after 很多? Why not 很多个客人?

With indefinite quantity words like 很多 (many), it is usually:

  • Number + Measure + Noun
    but
  • 很多 + Noun (no measure word)

So:

  • ✔ 很多客人 – many guests
  • ✔ 很多人 – many people
  • ✔ 很多书 – many books

If you use a specific number, you must use a measure word:

  • ✔ 三个客人 – three guests
  • ✔ 五位客人 – five (polite) guests

很多个客人 is not wrong, but it sounds less natural and can feel slightly redundant or colloquial. In most cases you should say 很多客人.

What is the right measure word for 客人 (kèrén) if I want to say “three guests,” “five guests,” etc.?

Common measure words with 客人:

  1. 个 (gè) – the general measure word

    • 三个客人 – three guests
      Natural, common in everyday speech.

  2. 位 (wèi) – polite/formal measure word for people

    • 三位客人 – three guests (polite, respectful)
      Often used in service contexts (restaurants, hotels, etc.).

So you’ll usually choose between:

  • 个客人 (neutral, common)
  • 位客人 (polite)
Can I say 我家很多客人 without 有?

我家很多客人 sounds incomplete and is generally not acceptable in this context.

You need 有 in the existential structure:

  • ✔ 我家有很多客人。
    “There are many guests at my place.”

You can drop 有 in some patterns where “X is very Y”:

  • 我家很大。 – “My home is big.”
  • 我家人很多。 – “There are many people in my family.” (This is a set pattern.)

But 我家很多客人 does not fit those patterns well. So for “My place has many guests / There are many guests at my place,” always say:

  • 我家有很多客人。
Why is it 很多客人 and not 客人很多 here? Are both possible?

Both occur in Chinese, but they serve different functions.

  1. Place + 有 + 很多客人 (existential)

    • 我家有很多客人。
      “There are many guests at my place.”
    • Focus: existence / presence of many guests.

  2. Place + 的 + 客人很多 (descriptive)

    • 我家的客人很多。
      Literally: “My home’s guests are many.”
      Natural: “My place gets a lot of guests.”
    • Focus: describing a characteristic of “my place” (it tends to have many guests).

Your sentence follows the existential pattern, so it’s:

  • 我家有很多客人。, not 我家客人很多。

If you add 的:

  • ✔ 我家的客人很多。 – grammatical, but a slightly different structure/angle.
How is 晚上 (wǎnshang) pronounced? Is the second syllable neutral tone?

Yes, in standard Mandarin, 上 in 晚上 is usually in the neutral tone:

  • wǎnshang (wǎn = 3rd tone, shang = neutral)

You might sometimes see wǎnshàng written with two full tones, but in everyday speech it is typically:

  • 晚 – 3rd tone
  • 上 – neutral tone

So: wǎn·shang (with the second part de-stressed).

What’s the difference between 客人, 游客, and 来宾?

All can relate to “guests,” but they are used differently:

  1. 客人 (kèrén)

    • General “guest” at your home, in a restaurant, in a shop, etc.
    • In this sentence, 客人 = people visiting your home.

  2. 游客 (yóukè)

    • “Tourist; sightseer.”
    • About traveling/visiting scenic spots, not just general visitors at your house.

  3. 来宾 (láibīn)

    • Formal “guest” (often at ceremonies, conferences, on TV shows).
    • More formal than 客人.

For “guests at my house in the evening,” 客人 is the natural choice, as in:

  • 晚上我家有很多客人。