Learn Hardcore Chinese: shūdiàn jīntiān hěnduō shū dōu zài dǎzhé. - Many books are on sale at the bookstore today.

书店 – topic (what we’re talking about)
很多书都在打折 – comment about that topic
Inside this comment:
- 很多书 – subject (“many books”)
- 在打折 – predicate (“are on sale / being discounted”)

So the sentence is like:
书店，今天很多书都在打折。
“At the bookstore, many books are on sale today.”

In everyday teaching, some people will simply say 书店 is the subject, but more precisely it’s working as a topic, and 很多书 is the grammatical subject of 在打折.

2. Why is there no verb like 有 (“have”) in Chinese, when in English we say “The bookstore has many books on sale”?

Chinese doesn’t always need a verb like 有 where English uses “have.”

English: The bookstore has many books on sale today.
Very close Chinese version: 书店今天有很多书在打折。
Your sentence: 书店今天很多书都在打折。

In the given sentence, 有 is simply omitted. This is quite natural in Chinese when the relationship is clear:

学校很多学生都很努力。
“At the school, many students are very hardworking.” (No 有, but understood.)

You could say 书店今天有很多书在打折 and it would sound completely natural. The original just skips 有 and goes straight to describing what’s happening to 很多书.

3. Why do we say 很多书 and not 很多的书? What’s the difference?

Both 很多书 and 很多的书 are possible, but they feel different:

很多书 (more common here)
- Very natural, neutral, everyday speech.
- Used when 很多 just means “many,” with no special emphasis.
很多的书
- Adds a bit of emphasis on the quantity, like “a great many books” or “a large number of books.”
- Sounds a little more formal or “heavier.”

In this sentence, 很多书 is the default and sounds more natural. 很多的书都在打折 is grammatically correct but a bit more emphatic.

4. Why is there no measure word, like 本, between 很多 and 书? Should it be 很多本书?

All of these are grammatical:

很多书 – many books (general)
很多本书 – many copies/volumes of books

Differences:

很多书 focuses on “books” as a category; the quantity is just “many.”
很多本书 makes you feel the countable units more strongly, like “many individual books / volumes.”

In everyday speech, 很多书 is perfectly natural and very common.
Use 很多本书 when you want to stress the counted items, e.g. if you’re talking about how many copies you bought or how many volumes are on the shelf.

5. What does 都 (dōu) do in 很多书都在打折? Can we leave it out?

都 here has the meaning “all” / “both/all of them”:

很多书都在打折。
“Many books are all on sale.”

It emphasizes that every member of the group (很多书) shares the same situation (being on sale).

If you remove it:

很多书在打折。

This is still grammatical and understandable. The nuance:

With 都: Slightly stronger sense that for all those “many books,” each one is on sale.
Without 都: Just states the fact “many books are on sale,” with less emphasis that it applies to every one of them.

In actual conversation, both versions are acceptable; native speakers often like to use 都 with plural subjects to make the “all” feel more explicit.

6. Why do we say 在打折 instead of just 打折? What does 在 do here?

在 in 在打折 marks an ongoing action or state, similar to the English progressive “be doing”:

在打折 ≈ “are (currently) on sale / are being discounted”

Compare:

很多书打折。
Can sound like a more general statement, “many books are on sale (in general / as a fact).”
很多书在打折。
Highlights that right now they are on sale.

Because we have 今天 (“today”), using 在打折 matches the idea of something currently happening today.
You can say 今天很多书打折; it works, but 在 makes the ongoing nature clearer and is very natural here.

7. What does 打折 literally mean, and how is it used?

Literally:

打 – to hit / strike / apply
折 – to break / fold; in this context, “discount; percentage of the original price”

So 打折 literally feels like “apply a discount,” and idiomatically it means:

“to be on sale”
“to give a discount / be discounted”

Usage:

这本书在打折。
“This book is on sale.”
这家店打八折。
“This shop gives a 20% discount (80% of the original price).”
(In Chinese, 打八折 = pay 8/10 of the price = 20% off.)

In your sentence, 很多书都在打折 means “many books are on sale / being discounted.”

8. Why is 今天 placed after 书店? Could we say 今天书店很多书都在打折 instead?

Word order options:

书店今天很多书都在打折。
Topic first (书店), then the time for that topic (今天).
今天书店很多书都在打折。
Time first (今天), then the place/topic (书店).

Both are natural and common. Differences:

书店今天… subtly puts 书店 in focus first (“As for the bookstore, today…”).
今天书店… starts from time (“Today, at the bookstore…”).

In everyday speech, both are fine, and meaning is essentially the same. Chinese is fairly flexible with placing time expressions like 今天, 昨天, etc., especially near the beginning of the sentence.

9. Can we move 今天 to a different place, like 书店很多书今天都在打折? Is that okay?

Yes, 书店很多书今天都在打折 is also grammatical.

Nuances:

书店今天很多书都在打折。
“At the bookstore, today, many books are on sale.”
书店很多书今天都在打折。
Feels like you first present “many books in the bookstore” and then add “(all) today are on sale.”

The difference is very subtle. All of these are acceptable:

今天书店很多书都在打折。
书店今天很多书都在打折。
书店很多书今天都在打折。

In practice, speakers tend to put 今天 near the beginning, but putting it before 都在打折 is not wrong.

10. How would I say “The bookstore is having a sale today” more generally, without emphasizing “many books”?

A natural way to say that is:

书店今天在打折。
“The bookstore is on sale today / is having a sale today.”

or a bit fuller:

书店今天在搞促销。
“The bookstore is doing a promotion today.”

Your original sentence:

书店今天很多书都在打折。
focuses on the books: “Many books at the bookstore are on sale today.”

If you care more about the event (sale) and less about the quantity of books, 书店今天在打折 is simpler and very common.

11. Could the sentence mean “There are many bookstores having sales today,” or is 书店 definitely singular here?

On its own, 书店 is ambiguous between “bookstore” and “bookstores” because Chinese nouns don’t usually mark plural.

So, in theory:

书店今天很多书都在打折。

could be:

“At the bookstore, many books are on sale today.” (singular)
“At bookstores, many books are on sale today.” (plural)

In real use, context usually clarifies. If you had been talking about one specific store, listeners will interpret 书店 as singular. If you were talking about bookstores in general, they might take it as plural.

If you want to be clearly plural, you could say:

很多书店今天都有很多书在打折。
“Many bookstores have many books on sale today.”

12. Why is there no word for “are” (like 是) in 很多书都在打折?

Chinese doesn’t use 是 as a general “to be” linking verb in the same way English uses “am/is/are.”

是 is mainly used to link two nouns or noun phrases, like:

他是老师。 – “He is a teacher.”

But when the predicate is a verb or verb phrase (like “are on sale”), Chinese doesn’t need 是:

很多书都在打折。
Subject: 很多书
Predicate: 在打折 (a verb phrase)

There’s already a verb (在打折), so 是 is neither needed nor correct here.
Adding 是 (很多书都是在打折) is possible in some contexts but adds a different nuance and is not the basic structure.

13. Could we omit 今天 and still have a natural sentence? What would change?

If you remove 今天:

书店很多书都在打折。

This is still correct and natural. It now sounds like a more general or timeless statement, or something understood from context (like a current, ongoing situation).

Adding 今天:

Anchors the event in time: today.
Makes it clearly about what’s happening on this specific day.

So 今天 just specifies when; the grammar of the rest of the sentence doesn’t change.