Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè jǐ tiān wǒ hěn máng. - These past few days I have been very busy.

So 这几天 literally is “these few days”, but in actual usage it usually means “these last few days / the past few days / these days recently”.

Comparisons:

几天 = “a few days” (no specific reference to now)
- e.g. 我想休息几天。= “I want to rest for a few days.”
这几天 = “these (recent) few days” (anchored around now)
- e.g. 这几天我很忙。= “I’ve been busy these last few days.”
最近 = “recently / lately” (no number idea, just a vague recent period)
- e.g. 最近我很忙。= “I’ve been busy recently.”

In many contexts, 这几天 and 最近 can both be used and feel very similar. 这几天 gives a stronger sense of a small, countable number of recent days (like the last 2–7 days or so), whereas 最近 is just “recently” without that “few days” feeling.

Why is there no verb “to be” in 我很忙 (wǒ hěn máng)? Why isn’t it 我是很忙?

In Chinese, many adjectives can serve directly as predicates, so you don’t need a verb like “to be” in English.

Structure:

我很忙 = Subject (我) + Degree adverb (很) + Adjective (忙)
Literally: “I very busy” → naturally translated: “I’m very busy.” / “I’m busy.”

是 (shì) is not used before plain adjectives like this. So:

✅ 我很忙。
❌ 我是忙。

You only see 是 with adjectives in special contrastive/emphatic structures, often with 的:

我是很忙，但是我还是可以帮你。
- “I am very busy, but I can still help you.”

That’s emphasizing or contrasting, not the normal way to say “I’m busy.”

Is 很 (hěn) really necessary here? What’s the difference between 我很忙 and 我忙?

In modern Mandarin, in neutral statements with an adjective, you almost always put a degree adverb like 很 before the adjective:

Normal, neutral: 我很忙。
Bare adjective (no 很): 我忙。

我很忙 usually just means “I’m busy” in a neutral way. The “very” meaning of 很 is often weak or almost invisible in everyday speech.

我忙 feels:

more abrupt,
more like you’re emphasizing a state in contrast to something else,
or like you’re making a factual/telegraphic statement.

Examples:

(Normal answer)
— 最近怎么样？
— 我很忙。
(Stronger contrast / correction)
— 你一点儿也不忙。
— 不，我忙！
– “No, I am busy!”

So in most beginner-level sentences, add 很 before adjectives used as predicates:

我很累。I’m tired.
他很高。He’s tall.
今天很冷。It’s cold today.

If 很 often doesn’t really mean “very” here, how do I say “I’m really very busy”?

To clearly express stronger degree, you typically use other adverbs instead of or in addition to 很, for example:

非常忙 (fēicháng máng) – extremely busy
太忙了 (tài máng le) – too busy
特别忙 (tèbié máng) – especially/really busy

Examples with our time phrase:

这几天我非常忙。= I’ve been extremely busy these days.
这几天我太忙了。= I’ve been way too busy these days.
这几天我特别忙。= I’ve been really especially busy these days.

Here the “very”/“too” sense is strong and clear, not just neutral.

Why is the time phrase 这几天 at the beginning? Can I also say 我这几天很忙? Is there any difference?

Both 这几天我很忙 and 我这几天很忙 are correct and natural.

这几天我很忙。
- Time phrase first: “These days, I’m busy.”
- This slightly highlights the time frame.
我这几天很忙。
- Subject first: “I have been busy these days.”
- Slightly highlights “I”.

The difference is subtle; both are very common. In spoken Chinese, both orders are used freely depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize first.

General patterns:

Time phrases commonly go at the beginning of the clause:
- 今天我不去。Today I’m not going.
- 明天他有课。He has class tomorrow.
They can also go after the subject:
- 我今天不去。
- 他明天有课。

So here you can safely use either word order.

Why is 几 (jǐ) used here if it is also used in questions like 几点？? Is 几 always a question word?

几 (jǐ) has two related uses:

Question word: “how many?” (usually for numbers under ~10)
- 几点？= What time?
- 你有几个兄弟姐妹？= How many siblings do you have?
Indefinite “a few / several” in statements (again, usually a small number):
- 我休息了几天。= I rested for a few days.
- 桌子上有几本书。= There are a few books on the table.

In 这几天 we’re in the second case:

这几天 = “these few days / these past few days.”

So 几 is not always a question word; it can also mean “a few, several” in statements.

Why don’t we need a measure word between 几 and 天? Usually Chinese needs measure words with numbers.

You’re right that normally Chinese uses measure words:

三个人 – three people
五本书 – five books

However, with words for natural time periods, those words often double as their own measure words, so no extra classifier is needed:

一天，两天，几天 – one day, two days, a few days
一年，三年，几年 – one year, three years, several years
一个星期 / 一周 – one week (here 个 or 周 works as the measure word)

So 几天 is “a few days” and 这几天 is “these few days,” no extra 个 in between.

What part of speech is 忙 (máng) here? Is it a verb (“to be busy”) or an adjective (“busy”)?

In 我很忙, 忙 functions as an adjective meaning “busy.”

Chinese doesn’t strictly separate “to be + adjective” the way English does. Many adjectives can directly act like verbs in the predicate position (no separate “to be” needed), but grammatically we still usually call them adjectives.

Compare:

我很忙。= I am busy. (忙 = adjective “busy”)
我很累。= I am tired.
天气很冷。= The weather is cold.

忙 can also appear in verb-like structures, e.g.:

忙着 + verb:
- 他忙着工作。= He’s busy working.

But in your sentence, it’s best understood simply as an adjective used as the predicate.

Can I omit 我 and just say 这几天很忙? Does that still sound natural?

Yes, 这几天很忙。 is natural and common, especially in spoken Chinese.

Meaning depends on context:

If you’re talking about yourself, listeners will usually understand it as “I’ve been busy these days.”
It can also mean “Things have been busy these days” or “It’s been busy around here these days” (more general).

So:

这几天我很忙。 – explicitly “I have been busy these days.”
这几天很忙。 – more general; the subject is understood from context.

Both are fine; choose depending on how explicit you want to be about the subject.

Why isn’t there any 了 (le) in this sentence? Shouldn’t we say something like 这几天我很忙了 for “I’ve been busy these days”?

You don’t need 了 here. 了 marks aspects like change of state or completion, not past tense itself.

这几天我很忙。
- Already clearly refers to a recent period because of 这几天 (“these past few days”).
- So the time frame is clear; no 了 is required.

If you add 了 incorrectly, it can sound odd or change the meaning. For example:

这几天我忙了。
- This can sound like “I (who previously wasn’t busy) have now become busy these days” – focusing on the change.
- It’s not the normal way to say “I’ve been busy these days.”

To talk about a past period with an adjective, often time expression + 很 + adjective is enough; tense is understood from the time phrase, not from 了.

How do the tones and pronunciation work in 这几天我很忙 (zhè jǐ tiān wǒ hěn máng)? Any tricky tone changes?

Pinyin and tones:

这 zhè – 4th tone
几 jǐ – 3rd tone
天 tiān – 1st tone
我 wǒ – 3rd tone
很 hěn – 3rd tone
忙 máng – 2nd tone

Tone-sandhi to watch:

3rd tone before 3rd tone:
- wǒ (我) 3rd + hěn (很) 3rd → In natural speech:
  - “wǒ” becomes a 2nd-tone-like rising tone,
  - “hěn” stays full 3rd.
- So it sounds like: wó hěn máng.
几 (jǐ) before a 1st tone (天 tiān) is fine; it’s just a standard 3rd → 1st sequence.

So a fluent pronunciation will sound roughly like:
zhè jǐ tiān wó hěn máng.

How would I say the same idea with 最近 instead of 这几天? Are there any differences in feeling?

You can say:

最近我很忙。
我最近很忙。

Both are common and natural, meaning “I’ve been busy recently / lately.”

Difference in nuance:

这几天我很忙。
- Feels like specifically the last few days (small, countable period).
最近我很忙。
- Feels like recently in general, a bit vaguer; could be weeks, could be longer, depending on context.

In many everyday conversations, they overlap, and either one would sound fine.