Learn Hardcore Chinese: nà xiē niánqīng xuéshēng duì zhōngwén hěn yǒu xìngqù, yě duì zìjǐ de chéngjì hěn yǒu xìnxīn. - Those young students are very interested in Chinese and also very confident about their grades.

对 A 很有兴趣 literally: “toward A have a lot of interest” → “to be very interested in A.”
对 B 很有信心 literally: “toward B have a lot of confidence” → “to be very confident about/in B.”

So:

对中文很有兴趣 = “be very interested in Chinese.”
对自己的成绩很有信心 = “be very confident in one’s own grades/results.”

In English we use prepositions like in, about, of; in Chinese, 对 is a common word that links what you have a certain attitude or feeling toward.

What is the role of 有 (yǒu) in 有兴趣 and 有信心? Why not just say “兴趣” or “信心” alone?

有 is the verb “to have / to possess.”

有兴趣 = “have interest” → “be interested.”
有信心 = “have confidence” → “be confident.”

Chinese often says “have + noun” where English uses an adjective:

有钱 = have money → rich
有用 = have use → useful
有耐心 = have patience → patient

You generally can’t drop 有 here; 兴趣 and 信心 by themselves are just nouns:

兴趣 = interest
信心 = confidence

You need 有 (or another verb) to turn them into a predicate:

我对中文有兴趣。= I am interested in Chinese.
我对考试没信心。= I’m not confident about the exam.

Does 很 (hěn) here really mean “very,” or is it just a linking word?

In the sentence:

很有兴趣
很有信心

很 does keep its usual meaning of “quite / very”, and it makes the description stronger:

有兴趣 = (just) have interest → “interested”
很有兴趣 = very interested
有信心 = have confidence → “confident”
很有信心 = very confident

There is another use of 很 where it acts as a sort of neutral “is” with adjectives (e.g. 他很好), but here the structure is 有 + noun, not a bare adjective, so 很 is much more like a real degree word (“very”).

You can say:

对中文有兴趣，也对自己的成绩有信心。

That’s still correct, just a bit less emphatic than with 很.

Why is 也 (yě) used, and where can it go in the sentence?

也 means “also / too / as well.”

The sentence structure is:

那些年轻学生 对中文很有兴趣，
也对自己的成绩很有信心。

也 shows there are two things that are both true about the same subject:

They are very interested in Chinese.
They are also very confident in their own grades.

You can move 也 a bit:

那些年轻学生也对中文很有兴趣，对自己的成绩很有信心。
那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣，对自己的成绩也很有信心。

All of these are acceptable; the nuance is:

Put 也 earlier → emphasize the subject “they also…”
Put 也 before the second part → emphasize “not only this, but also that.”

The original version is very natural and common.

Why is 对 repeated? Could I say it only once?

Original:

…对中文很有兴趣，也对自己的成绩很有信心。

You might wonder if you can say:

✗ 对中文很有兴趣，也自己的成绩很有信心。 (incorrect)

You need to repeat 对, because:

对 + noun is a unit: it marks what you are interested in / confident about.
The second phrase needs its own clear “target” for the feeling (成绩).

So both are needed:

对中文很有兴趣，
也对自己的成绩很有信心。

Repeating the preposition-like word is very natural in Chinese when there are two parallel phrases.

Does 那些年轻学生 need 的 (那些年轻的学生)? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatical:

那些年轻学生
那些年轻的学生

的 is a general marker linking modifiers to nouns. Omitting 的 here is possible because:

年轻
- 学生 is a common, fairly tight combination.
When an adjective expresses an inherent quality and the phrase is short, 的 can be dropped.

Subtle nuance:

那些年轻学生 sounds a bit more compact, like a fixed group label (“those young students”).
那些年轻的学生 can sound a bit more descriptive (“those students who are young”).

In everyday speech, you’ll hear both. For many common adjective–noun combinations (e.g. 年轻人, 小孩子, 老朋友), 的 is often omitted.

Why is there no extra measure word between 那些 and 年轻学生?

些 (xiē) already acts like a sort of measure / plural marker meaning “some” or “a group of.”
The structure is:

那 (that) + 些 (plural marker) + [noun phrase]

So:

那些学生 = those students
那些年轻学生 = those young students

You don’t insert another classifier:

✗ 那些个学生 (this is dialectal/colloquial in some regions, but not standard here)
✓ 那些学生
✓ 那些年轻学生
✓ 那些年轻的学生

In standard written Mandarin, after 那些, you go directly to the noun (optionally with modifiers) without another measure word.

What exactly does 自己 (zìjǐ) mean here? Whose grades are we talking about?

自己 is a reflexive pronoun meaning “self / oneself.”

In this sentence, the subject is 那些年轻学生 (“those young students”), so 自己 refers back to them:

自己的成绩 = their own grades / results

So:

对自己的成绩很有信心
= “be very confident in their own grades.”

Key point: 自己 usually refers to the subject of the clause, unless context clearly says otherwise.

Why do we need 的 after 自己 in 自己的成绩?

的 links a possessor to what is possessed.

Structure:

possessor + 的 + noun

Here:

possessor: 自己 (oneself)
noun: 成绩 (grades/results)

So:

自己的成绩 = “one’s own grades / results”

Compare:

我的成绩 = my grades
同学的成绩 = classmates’ grades
他们自己的成绩 = their own grades

What does 成绩 (chéngjì) mean exactly? Is it only “grades”?

成绩 most commonly means:

school grades,
exam scores,
academic performance.

Depending on context, it can also mean more general results / achievements, especially in work or sports:

工作成绩 = work performance
比赛成绩 = competition results

In a sentence about students, 成绩 almost always refers to academic grades or exam scores.

Is 中文 (zhōngwén) the same as “Mandarin,” or does it mean something else?

中文 literally means “Chinese language (in written/standard form)”, and in everyday usage it usually just means:

“Chinese” (language), without focusing on dialect.

Common contrasts:

中文 – general “Chinese,” especially in a school subject or language-learning context.
汉语 (hànyǔ) – “Chinese (Han language),” often used in language teaching, similar to 中文.
普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) – Mandarin, the standard spoken variety on the Mainland.

In a sentence like:

对中文很有兴趣

it basically means “interested in the Chinese language”, and in most modern contexts this will practically mean Mandarin, unless specified otherwise.

What is the basic grammatical structure of this whole sentence?

The sentence:

那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣，也对自己的成绩很有信心。

Breakdown:

Subject: 那些年轻学生
- “Those young students”
Predicate 1: 对中文很有兴趣
- 对 + 中文 (object of interest)
- 很有兴趣 (predicate: “are very interested”)
Connector: 也
- “also”
Predicate 2: 对自己的成绩很有信心
- 对 + 自己的成绩 (object of confidence)
- 很有信心 (predicate: “are very confident”)

So structurally:

Subject + [对 + A + 很有兴趣]，也 [对 + B + 很有信心]。

Chinese often stacks two parallel predicates like this instead of repeating the subject.

Could we say 感兴趣 instead of 有兴趣? What’s the difference?

Yes, very common alternatives are:

对中文很感兴趣
对自己的成绩很有信心

Differences:

有兴趣 = “have interest.”
- Slightly more neutral; sounds like a stable interest.
感兴趣 = “feel interested / find it interesting.”
- Emphasizes the feeling of interest, often a bit more dynamic.

Both are natural here:

那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣。
那些年轻学生对中文很感兴趣。

Nuance is small; in many contexts they’re interchangeable.

How would I change this sentence to talk about the past, like “were very interested” or “used to be interested”?

Mandarin doesn’t change the verb form for tense like English does. Instead, you rely on time words or context.

To make it clearly past:

以前, 那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣，也对自己的成绩很有信心。
- “In the past / before, those young students were very interested in Chinese and were also very confident in their grades.”

Or:

去年那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣，也对自己的成绩很有信心。
- “Last year those young students were very interested in Chinese…”

Without a time word, the original sentence can describe a general, timeless situation (often interpreted as present).

How do I pronounce the sentence smoothly? Any tricky parts?

Pinyin with syllable separation:

那些年轻学生对中文很有兴趣，也对自己的成绩很有信心。
nàxiē niánqīng xuéshēng duì zhōngwén hěn yǒu xìngqù, yě duì zìjǐ de chéngjì hěn yǒu xìnxīn.

Pronunciation tips:

那些: pronounced together as nàxiē (tone 4 + neutralish 1st; don’t pause in between).
兴趣 (xìngqù): both are 4th tone; keep both sharp: XÌNG-QÙ.
自己 (zìjǐ): 4th tone then 3rd; the 3rd tone in jǐ should dip (or at least be low).
成绩 (chéngjì): 2nd tone then 4th.

Say the sentence in two rhythm groups:

那些年轻学生 / 对中文很有兴趣，
也对自己的成绩 / 很有信心。

This makes it easier to keep tones and rhythm natural.