Learn Hardcore Chinese: yǒu de sījī hěn ānjìng, yǒu de sījī xǐhuan gēn wǒ liáotiān. - Some drivers are very quiet; some like to chat with me.

有 + object = “to have; there is/are”
- 我有车。 – I have a car.
- 这儿有很多人。 – There are many people here.
有的 + noun = “some (of the …)”
- 有的人很安静。 – Some people are quiet.
- 有的司机很安静。 – Some drivers are quiet.

So 有的司机 is better understood as a fixed pattern meaning “some drivers”, not “have drivers”.

What is the difference between 有的司机 and 一些司机? Can I say 一些司机很安静 instead?

Both 有的司机 and 一些司机 can mean “some drivers”, but there are small differences:

有的司机
- Very natural in contrast structures like this: 有的……，有的…… (“some …, some …”).
- Slightly more like “some (of them)” and often implies a group already in mind or context.
一些司机
- More neutral “some drivers / a number of drivers”.
- Works fine, but the parallel pattern 有的……，有的…… is a very common, idiomatic structure, so 有的司机…有的司机… sounds more natural here.

You could say:

一些司机很安静，有些司机喜欢跟我聊天。
but the original 有的……有的…… pattern is especially idiomatic and compact.

Why is there a 的 after 有 in 有的司机? Is it the same 的 as in 我的书?

Yes, it’s the same 的, but it’s used a bit differently here.

In 我的书, 的 links 我 (I) to 书 (book) and means “my book”.
In 有的司机, you can think of it as “(there) are some [of the] drivers”. Historically, 有的 comes from a structure like 有 + 的 + (those), becoming a fixed chunk meaning “some”.

Functionally, you can treat 有的 as one unit meaning “some”. The 的 isn’t possessive here; it’s just part of this established pattern 有的 + noun.

Why is 很 in 很安静? Can I just say 有的司机安静?

With adjectives as predicates, Chinese often needs something between the subject and the adjective, and 很 is the most common “link”.

有的司机很安静。 – Some drivers are (quite) quiet.

Without 很, 有的司机安静 can sound:

Like a contrastive statement (“The drivers are quiet (as opposed to not quiet)”), or
Slightly unnatural in everyday conversation.

In most neutral statements describing someone’s quality, you add 很 even if you don’t really mean “very” strongly. It’s often just a “dummy degree adverb” that makes the sentence sound natural.

You can omit it in certain contexts (emphasis, contrast, poetry, headlines), but for normal speech/writing, 很安静 is the default.

Does 很 always mean “very”? Is 很安静 exactly “very quiet”?

Not always.

In neutral descriptions, 很 often has little or no real “very” feeling; it’s just needed to make the sentence smooth:
- 他很高。 – He is tall. (May or may not be “very” tall.)
- 有的司机很安静。 – Some drivers are quiet.
When 很 is clearly used for emphasis, context and tone make it sound like “very”:
- 今天很冷！ – It’s very cold today!

So 很安静 can be “quiet” or “quite/very quiet” depending on context and intonation. For a learner, it’s generally safe to translate it as “quiet” unless it’s clearly emphasizing degree.

Why repeat 司机? Can I say 有的司机很安静，有的喜欢跟我聊天?

Yes, you can omit the second 司机:

有的司机很安静，有的喜欢跟我聊天。

This is natural because the second 有的 clearly refers back to 司机. Repeating 司机:

有的司机很安静，有的司机喜欢跟我聊天。 adds a bit of rhythm and clarity and is also very natural.

So both are correct; the version without the second 司机 is slightly shorter and more colloquial, while the original is a bit more explicit.

Why is there no plural marker like 们 on 司机? Why not 司机们?

Chinese usually doesn’t mark plural on nouns unless there is a special reason.

司机 can already mean “driver” or “drivers” depending on context.
Words like 有的, 很多, 一些, 几位, etc., already indicate plurality:
- 有的司机 = some drivers (plural is obvious).
- 很多司机 = many drivers.

们 is:

Common after pronouns: 我们, 你们, 他们.
Used with some human nouns when you refer to specific individuals as a group:
- 同学们 – (you) students
- 孩子们 – the children

With occupations like 司机, 老师, 医生, 司机们 is much less common and often used only when you want to highlight a specific group (“the drivers (as a collective)” in a more rhetorical style). Here, plain 司机 is standard.

What is the pattern 有的……，有的…… doing here? Is it like “some…, others…”?

Exactly. The pattern:

有的 A……，有的 B…… means:
“Some (of them) A…, (while) some (others) B…”

In this sentence:

有的司机很安静，有的司机喜欢跟我聊天。
= Some drivers are quiet, (while) some drivers like to chat with me.

You can use this pattern with many nouns:

有的人喜欢运动，有的人喜欢看书。
Some people like sports; some people like reading.
有的课很难，有的课比较容易。
Some classes are hard; some are relatively easy.

Why use 跟 in 跟我聊天? Can I use 和我聊天 instead?

Both 跟 and 和 can mean “with” when talking about doing something with someone.

跟我聊天 – chat with me
和我聊天 – chat with me

Differences:

跟 is extremely common in spoken Chinese; it often feels a bit more colloquial.
和 is also correct and common; it can feel slightly more formal or neutral, depending on context.

In this sentence, 喜欢跟我聊天 is very natural everyday speech. You can safely use either:

…喜欢跟我聊天。
…喜欢和我聊天。

Is 聊天 one word or two words (聊 and 天)? What’s its structure?

聊天 is a verb-object compound:

聊 = to chat, to talk about
天 = “sky/day”, but in this phrase, it has lost its literal meaning and just forms the set phrase 聊天 = “to chat”.

You can treat 聊天 as a single verb meaning “to chat”.
Variations:

聊聊天 – to have a (bit of a) chat (verb-object reduplication for a casual tone).
聊一聊 – to chat a bit.

In 喜欢跟我聊天, 聊天 is simply the verb “to chat”.

Could the sentence be 有的司机很安静，有的司机喜欢跟我说话? What’s the difference between 聊天 and 说话?

Yes, that sentence is grammatical:

有的司机很安静，有的司机喜欢跟我说话。

But there is a nuance:

聊天
- Implies an informal, two-way chat, often about random or light topics.
- Very close to English “to chat”.
说话
- Literally “to speak, to talk”.
- More general; doesn’t automatically imply “friendly conversation”.
- Could be one-sided talking, scolding, giving instructions, etc., depending on context.

In this context:

喜欢跟我聊天 suggests drivers who enjoy friendly conversation with me.
喜欢跟我说话 could mean the same, but is a bit broader and less specifically “chatty”.

Is the subject here “some drivers” or is it something like “there are some drivers who…”?

You can understand the structure in both ways, and Chinese doesn’t sharply separate them.

As a subject:
- 有的司机 = “Some drivers” (subject)
- 有的司机很安静。 – Some drivers are quiet.
As “there are some … who …”:
- Conceptually it’s close to: “There are some drivers who are quiet; there are some drivers who like to chat with me.”

Chinese often uses 有的 + noun to introduce a subset of a group, and whether you translate it as “some X …” or “there are some X who …” is more about English style than Chinese grammar.

Could I say 有的司机是很安静的? What does adding 是 and the final 的 change?

You can say:

有的司机是很安静的。

This structure Noun + 是 + 很 + Adjective + 的:

Puts more emphasis on the description.
Often sounds a bit more emphatic or explanatory, like:
- “Some drivers are very quiet (you know).”

Compare:

有的司机很安静。 – Neutral description: Some drivers are quiet.
有的司机是很安静的。 – More like: Some drivers really are quiet / Some drivers are the quiet type.

In the original sentence, the simple 很安静 is perfectly natural and neutral, so adding 是…的 is not necessary unless you want to emphasize that quality.