Learn Hardcore Chinese: jīntiān gōngyuán lǐ yǒu hěn duō rén, hěn yǒngjǐ. - There are many people in the park today; it’s very crowded.

If you say 公园里很多人 by itself, it’s understandable but feels incomplete or a bit informal/elliptical. The standard, neutral way to say “There are many people in the park” is with 有:

✅ 公园里有很多人 (most natural as a full sentence)
⚠️ 公园里很多人 (OK in casual speech, sounds like something is omitted, e.g. 公园里很多人，很热闹)

What exactly does 里 (lǐ) do in 公园里? Why not just say 公园?

里 means “inside” / “in”.

公园 = “the park” (just the place name)
公园里 = “in the park,” “inside the park”

In many contexts, 公园里 sounds more specific/visual: it emphasizes that we’re talking about the interior of the park, not, say, near the park gate or around the park.

Can you drop 里?

今天公园里有很多人 – “Today there are many people in the park.”
今天公园有很多人 – also understandable; in many cases it will be interpreted the same, but 里 feels a bit more natural when talking about where people are located within that space.

So 公园 vs 公园里 is similar to “at the park” vs “in the park,” with 里 leaning toward “in”.

What’s the difference between 公园里 and 在公园里? Could I say 今天在公园里有很多人?

Yes, you can say 今天在公园里有很多人, and it’s correct. The patterns are:

Place + 有 + …
→ 公园里有很多人 (today is just added at the beginning)
在 + Place + 有 + …
→ 在公园里有很多人

In everyday speech:

公园里有很多人 is more common and a bit simpler.
在公园里有很多人 is also fine; it slightly emphasizes the location with 在.

When you put time in front:

今天公园里有很多人 (most natural)
今天在公园里有很多人 (also OK, just a bit heavier)

You usually don’t say:

❌ 公园里今天有很多人 – grammatically possible, but feels less natural. Time expressions like 今天 usually come first or near the beginning of the sentence:
→ 今天公园里有很多人。

Why is 很 (hěn) used before 多 and 拥挤? Does it always mean “very”?

In this sentence:

很多人 – “very many people / a lot of people”
很拥挤 – “very crowded”

So here 很 does basically mean “very / quite”, adding degree.

But there’s an extra point with adjectives in Chinese:

When an adjective is used as a predicate (like “is big”, “is crowded”), you usually don’t use 是:
- ✅ 天气很好。 – “The weather is very good.”
- ❌ 天气是好。
In simple statements, 很 + adjective can be neutral (not strongly “very”), especially in spoken Mandarin. It’s sometimes just a natural filler before an adjective.
For example, 他很高 can be “He is tall” (not necessarily “very tall,” unless you stress 很).

In 很多人, 很 does feel like “a lot” (stronger than just “many people”). In 很拥挤, it usually sounds like “(really) crowded”.

So:

很多人 ≈ “a lot of people”
很拥挤 ≈ “(very) crowded,” depending on tone/context.

Can I say 今天公园里是很拥挤 or 公园里是很多人 with 是 (shì)?

In most cases, you should not put 是 right before an adjective like that.

General rule:

是 links nouns (“X is Y”):
- 他是学生。 – “He is a student.”
Adjectives as predicates normally do not use 是:
- ✅ 今天公园里很拥挤。 – “Today the park is (very) crowded.”
- ❌ 今天公园里是很拥挤。

There are special emphatic patterns like 是很拥挤, but they’re used in contrast:

今天不是不拥挤，而是很拥挤。
“Today it’s not that it’s not crowded; rather, it is very crowded.”

That’s more advanced and rhetorical. For a normal statement, just use:

今天公园里很拥挤。
今天公园里有很多人。

Why is there no measure word between 多 and 人? Why isn’t it 很多个人?

After 很 / 非常 / 特别 etc. plus 多, you don’t usually insert a measure word:

✅ 很多人 – many people
✅ 很多书 – many books
✅ 很多地方 – many places
❌ 很多个书 (sounds wrong)
❌ 很多个人 (odd unless for a special emphasis)

You normally use a measure word in patterns like:

三个人 – three people
一些人 – some people
那几个人 – those few people

很多个人 can appear in spoken language for strong emphasis on the countable individuals, something like “so many separate people,” but it’s relatively rare and sounds a bit clunky. The default, natural version is simply:

很多人 = “a lot of people”

What does the comma do in “今天公园里有很多人，很拥挤。”? The second part 很拥挤 has no subject—how does that work?

Chinese often omits subjects when they are clear from context. This is very natural.

Your sentence has two clauses:

今天公园里有很多人，
“Today there are many people in the park,”
很拥挤。
literally: “(It is) very crowded.”

The subject of 很拥挤 is understood to be “the situation / the park / the place.” In English we have to say “It’s very crowded”, but Chinese just says 很拥挤 when the context is obvious.

So the full, very explicit version would be like:

今天公园里有很多人，（公园里）很拥挤。

But we usually drop the repeated 公园里.

Can I say “今天公园里人很多，很拥挤。”? How is that different from “公园里有很多人”?

Yes, you can say:

今天公园里人很多，很拥挤。

Differences:

公园里有很多人
Structure: Place + 有 + NP
→ “There are many people in the park.” (existential / introducing that they exist there)
公园里人很多
Structure: Place + Noun + Adjective
→ “The people in the park are many.” / “The park’s people are many.”
Natural English: “There are lots of people in the park,” but the focus is more on the quantity as a property.

In everyday usage, both are very common and often interchangeable in meaning.
Nuance (subtle):

有很多人 slightly focuses on the presence/appearance (“there are many people there”).
人很多 slightly focuses on the state/degree (“the number of people is high”).

But practically, both are fine.

Could I change the word order to “今天有很多人在公园里，很拥挤。”? Is that also correct?

Yes, 今天有很多人在公园里，很拥挤。 is grammatically correct and natural.

Pattern here:

有很多人在公园里
→ Subject: “many people”
→ Location phrase: “in the park”

However, the most typical pattern for “There are many people in the park” is still:

公园里有很多人。

Both versions are understood the same way; you’re just shifting focus a bit:

公园里有很多人 – topic starts from location.
有很多人在公园里 – topic starts from the existence of many people.

In real conversation, 公园里有很多人 is the more standard and common form.

What’s the difference between 拥挤 (yǒngjǐ) and 挤 (jǐ)? Could I say 很挤 instead of 很拥挤?

You can use 很挤 here:

今天公园里有很多人，很挤。

Differences:

挤 as an adjective = “crowded, cramped, packed”
Also a verb = “to squeeze, to push”
拥挤 as an adjective = “crowded, jammed, congested”
It sounds a bit more formal or descriptive, and often suggests crowded in a way that causes inconvenience.

In this context:

很挤 – everyday, common word, feels casual: “It’s really crowded.”
很拥挤 – a bit more formal/neutral description: “It is crowded / congested.”

Both are correct and natural in this sentence. Native speakers use both depending on personal style and tone.

Why is 今天 (today) at the very beginning? Could it go somewhere else?

In Chinese, time words like 今天 usually appear:

at the beginning of the sentence, or
right before the verb phrase.

So:

✅ 今天公园里有很多人。 (very natural)
✅ 公园里今天有很多人。 (less common, but possible, often used with emphasis on “today” as contrast)
✅ 今天在公园里有很多人。

The most natural, default version is:

今天 + [place] + 有 + …

Putting 今天 at the very start sets the time frame for everything that follows: “As for today, in the park there are many people; it is very crowded.” This matches Chinese’s tendency to go from bigger context → details.