Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā shuō zìjǐ de lǚyóu jìhuà gēn biérén shuō shénme méi yǒu guānxi, zhǐ gēn zìjǐ de xìngqù yǒu guānxi. - He says his travel plans have nothing to do with what other people say, only with his own interests.

他说 – the first 说 is the main verb of the sentence: “he says / he said …”
- 他(tā) = he
- 说(shuō) = says/said
别人说什么 – the second 说 is part of a smaller clause inside the sentence: “what other people say”
- 别人(biérén) = other people
- 说(shuō) = say
- 什么(shénme) = what

So the structure is:

他说 [ A 跟别人说什么没有关系，只跟 B 有关系 ]
= He says [ A has nothing to do with what other people say, and is only related to B ].

What exactly does 自己 (zìjǐ) mean here, and who does it refer to?

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

In this sentence it appears twice:

自己的旅游计划 = one’s own travel plans
自己的兴趣 = one’s own interests

Because the subject is 他 (he), 自己 refers back to 他. So here 自己 means “his own”:

自己的旅游计划 = his own travel plans
自己的兴趣 = his own interests

In general, 自己 usually refers to the subject of the clause unless context clearly points to someone else.

Why do we need 的 (de) after 自己 in 自己的旅游计划 and 自己的兴趣?

的 (de) turns what comes before it into an attributive phrase (a modifier) for a noun.

自己 by itself is a pronoun: “self / oneself”
自己的 means “one’s own …” and must be followed by a noun:
- 自己的旅游计划 = one’s own travel plans
- 自己的兴趣 = one’s own interests

If you said just 自己旅游计划, it would sound ungrammatical or at least very awkward. You almost always use 自己的 + noun.

What does 跟 (gēn) mean here, and how does the structure 跟 … 有关系 / 没有关系 work?

Here 跟 (gēn) means “with / in relation to”.

The pattern is:

A 跟 B 有关系 = A has a relationship with B / A is related to B / A has to do with B
A 跟 B 没有关系 = A has nothing to do with B / A is unrelated to B

In the sentence:

自己的旅游计划跟别人说什么没有关系
= His travel plans have nothing to do with what other people say.
只跟自己的兴趣有关系
= They are only related to his own interests.

So 跟 … 有(没)关系 is a very common way to say “to (not) be related / relevant / connected to …”.

Why is it 没有关系 and not 不关系?

Two points:

关系 (guānxi) is a noun, not a verb.
- Literally, 有关系 = “to have a relationship/connection (with)”
- 没有关系 = “to not have a relationship/connection (with)”
没有 (méiyǒu) is used to negate “to have / exist”.
- 有关系 = there is a relationship
- 没有关系 = there is no relationship

不关系 is not grammatical. When you want to say “(not) related / (no) connection,” you should use:

有关系 / 没有关系
Or the shorter idiomatic form 没关系, e.g. 这跟我没关系 = This has nothing to do with me.

What is 什么 (shénme) doing after 说 in 别人说什么?

Here 什么 is not a direct question to the listener. It is used to form an embedded question / content clause:

别人说什么 = what other people say

English uses “what” the same way:

direct question: What do other people say?
embedded: He ignores what other people say.

Chinese works similarly: the word order in the embedded clause 别人说什么 is the same as in the direct question. So 别人说什么 acts like a noun phrase, the object of 关系:

跟别人说什么没有关系
= has nothing to do with what other people say

Could we use 和 (hé) instead of 跟 (gēn) here? What’s the difference?

In this type of structure, 跟 and 和 are often interchangeable in meaning:

跟别人说什么没有关系
和别人说什么没有关系

Both would be understood as: “has nothing to do with what other people say.”

Nuances:

跟 is a bit more colloquial and very common in everyday speech.
和 can sound a little more neutral/formal, and is also extremely common.

In spoken Chinese, 跟 … 有关系 / 没关系 is probably heard more often, but using 和 here is not wrong.

Why isn’t there a measure word before 旅游计划 (lǚyóu jìhuà)? Shouldn’t it be 一个旅游计划?

Chinese does not always need a measure word before a noun. It depends on how specific you’re being.

旅游计划 by itself can mean “(the) travel plan(s)” in a general sense.
If you want to emphasize one specific plan, you can say:
- 一个旅游计划 = one travel plan
- 他的旅游计划 = his travel plan

In this sentence, 自己的旅游计划 means his own travel plans / his own travel plan, in a general sense. It doesn’t need to emphasize number, so no measure word is necessary.

What’s the difference between 旅游 (lǚyóu) and 旅行 (lǚxíng) in 旅游计划? Could we say 旅行计划 instead?

Both are related to traveling, and both 旅游计划 and 旅行计划 are possible.

General tendencies:

旅游 often has the sense of tourism / sightseeing / travelling for pleasure.
旅行 is more general: to travel, not necessarily as a tourist, and can include business trips, moving around, etc.

So:

旅游计划 = travel (tourism) plan; often implies leisure travel.
旅行计划 = travel plan; a bit more neutral or general.

In everyday conversation, 旅游计划 sounds very natural for talking about holiday or sightseeing plans, which fits the idea of 兴趣 (interests) here. 旅行计划 would also be understood, just with slightly more neutral wording.

What’s the difference between 有关系 (yǒu guānxi) and 有关 (yǒuguān)? Could we say 只跟自己的兴趣有关?

Both 有关系 and 有关 can mean “to be related to / to have to do with”, and both are common.

跟 … 有关系
和 … 有关 / 与 … 有关 (与 is more formal)

You could absolutely say:

只跟自己的兴趣有关。
or 只和自己的兴趣有关。

Nuance:

有关 often sounds a bit more concise and a bit more formal or written, especially with 与:
- 与环境保护有关的话题 = topics related to environmental protection.
有关系 is extremely common in speech and feels slightly more conversational.

In this sentence, 有关系 and 有关 are both acceptable, but 有关系 matches the earlier 没有关系, so it’s nicely parallel.

Why is there 只 (zhǐ) and not 只有 (zhǐyǒu)? What’s the difference?

Both 只 and 只有 have a sense of “only”, but they’re used differently in structure:

只 is an adverb modifying the verb:
- 只跟自己的兴趣有关系
  = It only has a relationship with his own interests.
只有 forms a “only if / only … then …” structure:
- 只有 A，才 B = only if A, (then) B
  Example: 只有努力，才会成功。
  = Only if you work hard will you succeed.

If you used 只有 here, you’d change the meaning and structure:

只有跟自己的兴趣有关系，(才怎么样)
= Only if it is related to his own interests, (then…)

But the original sentence is simply saying “it is only related to his own interests”, not an “only if … then …” condition. So 只 is correct here, not 只有.

How does the word order work around 别人说什么? Could we say 跟别人说的话没有关系 instead?

The original phrase:

跟别人说什么没有关系
= has nothing to do with what other people say

Here 别人说什么 is a self-contained clause (“other people say what”) used as a noun phrase (the thing with which it does or doesn’t have a relationship).

You could also say:

跟别人说的话没有关系
= has nothing to do with what other people say / the words said by others

Differences:

别人说什么 = literally “what other people say” (using 什么 as in an embedded question).
别人说的话 = “the words (that) other people say,” using 的话 as a noun phrase.

Both are grammatical and natural.
The version with 什么 feels a bit more direct and close to the English structure “what others say,” while 说的话 sounds slightly more like “the words said by others,” but the meaning in context is basically the same.

Does 他说 mean “he says” or “he said”? How do we know the tense?

Chinese verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, no -s). 说 can be “say,” “says,” or “said,” depending on context.

他说 can mean:
- He says (present)
- He said (past)
- He is saying (progressive), etc.

To make the past more explicit, you might add:

他说过 … = He has said (before) that …
他曾经说过 … = He once said …
Or rely on time expressions: 昨天他说… = Yesterday he said…

In many written or spoken contexts, Chinese just relies on context for whether it is present or past. In this sentence, it can be translated either as “He says …” or “He said …” depending on the broader situation.