Learn Hardcore Chinese: yǒu de xuéshēng hěn hàixiū, bù tài xǐhuan zài jùhuì shàng gēn biéren liáotiān. - Some students are very shy and don’t really like chatting with others at parties.

有的学生很害羞 = “Some students are very shy.”
It’s often used when you’re contrasting different parts of a group:
- 有的学生很害羞，有的学生很外向。
  “Some students are very shy, and some are very outgoing.”

一些学生 also means “some students”, but it feels a bit more like a vague quantity and is less about contrasting subgroups.

一些学生很害羞。 = “Some students are very shy.” (more neutral)
有的 tends to sound more natural when you’re talking about types within a set, or when you might follow with 有的……有的…… patterns.

Why is there no 是 (shì) in 有的学生很害羞? Why not 有的学生是很害羞?

In Chinese, adjectives like 害羞 (shy), 高 (tall), 忙 (busy), 冷 (cold) can act directly as predicates, so you don’t need 是:

他很高。 = “He (is) tall.”
有的学生很害羞。 = “Some students (are) very shy.”

You usually use 是 before nouns, not before adjectives:

他是老师。 = He is a teacher.
她是美国人。 = She is American.

有的学生是很害羞 is not grammatically wrong, but in neutral statements it can sound a bit “marked” or emphatic, like you’re insisting or contrasting:

“There really are some students who are (indeed) very shy.”

Does 很 (hěn) in 很害羞 really mean “very”? Could we just say 有的学生害羞?

Grammatically:

With many adjectives, Chinese tends to put a degree adverb like 很, 挺, 非常 in front when using them as predicates.
有的学生很害羞 is the most natural-sounding.

In everyday speech, 很 here is often not as strong as English “very”; it can be closer to just “(are) shy” or “quite shy”, unless you stress it.

有的学生害羞 is not ungrammatical, but:

Without 很, it can sound a bit abrupt or like you’re making a strong, bare statement (“are shy” as a fixed trait).
Beginners are usually taught to include 很 to avoid this “bare adjective” feeling.

So:

有的学生很害羞。 ≈ “Some students (are) shy / pretty shy.”
If you really want “very”, you can use 非常害羞, 特别害羞.

What is the nuance of 不太喜欢 compared to just 不喜欢?

Both involve 喜欢 (to like), but the nuance is different:

不喜欢 = “don’t like” / “dislike” (fairly clear negative)
- 我不喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。
  “I don’t like talking with others at parties.”
不太喜欢 = “don’t really like”, “don’t much like”, “not so keen on”
- It softens the negative, making it sound milder or more polite.
- 我不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。
  “I’m not really into talking with others at parties.”

So in your sentence, 不太喜欢 suggests:

The students aren’t very fond of it, rather than strongly hating it.

What does 在……上 mean in 在聚会上? Why is there a 上 (shàng) after 聚会?

在聚会上 literally is “at (the) party + on/top”, but 上 here works like a postposition that attaches to certain nouns to indicate “during / in the context of / at (the event or platform)”.

Common patterns:

在聚会上 = at a party / at parties (as events)
在会议上 = at a meeting
在网上 = on the internet
在考试中/在考试时 (similar function, different word) = during an exam

在聚会 by itself usually needs something after it to sound complete; 在聚会上 is the standard set phrase for “at a party (as an event setting)”.

Why is the order 在聚会上跟别人聊天, and not 跟别人在聚会上聊天?

Both orders are possible, but the standard, neutral order in Chinese for adverbials is generally:

(time) + (place) + (manner / with whom) + verb

So in your sentence:

在聚会上 = place/event setting
跟别人 = with whom
聊天 = verb

→ 不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。

You can also say:

不太喜欢跟别人在聚会上聊天。

This is still correct, but it slightly shifts emphasis to “talking with other people (and specifically doing that at parties).” In most neutral descriptions, 在聚会上跟别人聊天 is more common and natural-sounding.

Why use 跟 in 跟别人聊天? Can I use 和别人聊天 instead?

Yes, 跟 and 和 can often both mean “with” when talking about doing something together:

跟别人聊天 = chat with other people
和别人聊天 = chat with other people

Differences:

跟 is slightly more colloquial and very common in spoken Mandarin.
和 can feel a little more formal or neutral, and you also see it often in writing.

So:

Both 跟别人聊天 and 和别人聊天 are correct.
In everyday conversation, 跟别人聊天 is very natural.

What exactly does 别人 (biéren) mean here? Is it “other people” or “other students”?

别人 literally means “other people” or “other person(s)”.

In context:

有的学生很害羞，不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。

Because we’re already talking about 学生 (students), 别人 here is naturally understood as “other people (at the party)”, likely including other students and maybe anyone present.

If you wanted to emphasize “other students” specifically, you could say:

跟别的学生聊天 = chat with other students

But 别人 by itself is perfectly natural and common for “others / other people”.

Why is there no plural marker like 们 on 学生? How do we know it’s “students” and not “a student”?

Chinese usually does not mark plural on nouns the way English does. Context tells you whether it’s singular or plural.

学生 can mean “student” or “students”.
In 有的学生很害羞, 有的 (“some”) already implies plurality, so 学生 must be “students”.

们 is used:

On personal pronouns: 我们, 你们, 他们.
With some human nouns when you want to emphasize “this specific group of people”:
同学们, 老师们, 朋友们.

But 学生们 is less common than just 学生 unless there’s a stylistic or emphatic reason. Here, 有的学生 is the normal, natural expression.

Is 害羞 (hàixiū) an adjective or a verb in Chinese? How does it work grammatically?

害羞 is usually treated as an adjective meaning “shy”, but like many Chinese adjectives, it can also have a verb-like feel (“to feel shy / to be shy”).

Examples:

他很害羞。 – “He is (very) shy.” (adjective-like)
她一见生人就害羞。 – “She becomes shy as soon as she sees strangers.” (verb-like sense)

In your sentence:

有的学生很害羞
It’s functioning as an adjective describing 学生: some students are (very) shy.

You don’t need extra verbs like “to be” or “to feel”; 害羞 itself carries that stative meaning.

Why is there no 了 (le) anywhere? Could we say 不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天了?

了 is often used:

For completed actions (他走了 – he has left),
Or for a change of state (天气冷了 – it’s (now) gotten cold).

Your sentence describes a general tendency / habit, not a completed one-time event or a new change:

有的学生很害羞，不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。
“Some students are very shy and don’t really like to talk with others at parties (in general).”

If you say:

不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天了,
it suggests a change: “(They) no longer really like talking with others at parties (as they used to)” or “(They) now don’t really like it anymore.”

So without 了 is correct and natural for a general statement of preference.

Could we say 有些学生 instead of 有的学生? Is there any difference?

Yes, 有些学生 is also grammatical and understandable:

有些学生很害羞，不太喜欢在聚会上跟别人聊天。

Differences in feel:

有的学生 is very common in spoken and written Mandarin, especially when you’re going to contrast:
- 有的学生很害羞，有的学生很外向。
有些学生 focuses a little more on “some (number of) students” as a vague quantity.

In most everyday contexts, you can use either. For patterns like “some …, some …”, 有的……有的…… is the standard choice.

Can you break down the whole sentence structure and show the main parts in English?

Sentence:

有的学生　很害羞，　不太喜欢　在聚会上　跟别人　聊天。

Structure:

有的学生 – subject: “some students”
很害羞 – predicate describing the subject: “(are) very/quite shy”
， – comma linking a second description of the same subject
不太喜欢 – verb phrase: “don’t really like / not very much like”
在聚会上 – location/event phrase: “at (a) party / at parties”
跟别人 – with whom: “with other people”
聊天 – main action: “to chat / talk”

Full sense:

“Some students are very shy and don’t really like chatting with other people at parties.”