Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒ zhù de gōngyù fùjìn yǒu hěnduō fàndiàn. - There are many restaurants near the apartment where I live.

In an ordinary sentence, you say 我住在公寓里 – “I live in an apartment.” Here, 住在 + place is normal.
But when you turn it into a modifier before the noun (with 的), native speakers almost always drop 在 and say 我住的公寓.

我住在的公寓 is possible but sounds awkward or overly heavy in everyday speech. For learners, treat [subject + verb] 的 + noun as the default: 我住的公寓, 我工作的公司, 他学的专业, etc.

Why is there no 的 between 公寓 and 附近? Can I say 公寓的附近?

The usual pattern is [place] + 附近, without 的:

学校附近 – near the school
地铁站附近 – near the subway station
我家附近 – near my home

So 我住的公寓附近 = “near the apartment that I live in.”

You can sometimes see 公寓的附近, but in everyday speech it sounds unnecessarily long or slightly unnatural. Native speakers overwhelmingly prefer 公寓附近 in this kind of sentence.

What exactly does 附近 mean here, and how is it working in the sentence?

附近 means “nearby / the nearby area / vicinity.”

Grammatically, in this sentence it is part of a location phrase:

我住的公寓附近 – “near the apartment I live in”

You can use 附近 in a few common ways:

在我家附近 – “near my home” (with 在 in front)
我家附近有超市。 – “There is a supermarket near my home.”
这儿附近有什么好吃的？ – “What good food places are there around here?”

So in 我住的公寓附近有很多饭店, 我住的公寓附近 is the “place” where something exists.

What is the function of 有 here? Why not use 是?

Here 有 is the verb used in an existential sentence: [location] + 有 + [something] = “There is/are … (at/in) [location].”

我住的公寓附近有很多饭店。
“There are many restaurants near the apartment I live in.”

You cannot replace 有 with 是:

✗ 我住的公寓附近是很多饭店。 – ungrammatical

是 links two noun phrases (“X is Y”), like:

这儿是饭店。 – “This is a restaurant.”

But when you introduce the existence of things at a place, Chinese uses 有, not 是.

Why is the word order 我住的公寓附近有很多饭店 instead of 有很多饭店在我住的公寓附近 or 我住的公寓附近很多饭店?

The most neutral and common pattern is:

[location] + 有 + [something]

So 我住的公寓附近有很多饭店 is the default way to say “There are many restaurants near the apartment I live in.”

Other possibilities:

有很多饭店在我住的公寓附近。 – grammatical, but it emphasizes “there are many restaurants that are located near my apartment.” The focus is more on 很多饭店 as the topic.
我住的公寓附近很多饭店。 – colloquial, dropping 有. It sounds more like a casual description: “Near my apartment, (there are) many restaurants.” Still understandable and used in speech, but 有 is the textbook pattern.

Does 很多 literally mean “very many”? Is 很 just “very” here?

In 很多, the two characters together form one quantifier meaning “many; a lot of.”

很多饭店 → “many restaurants” / “a lot of restaurants”

You don’t usually feel 很 here as a separate “very.” It’s not “very many restaurants” in a strong, emphatic sense; it’s just the normal way to say “many.”

Some close alternatives:

许多饭店 – many restaurants (slightly more formal/written)
好多饭店 – many restaurants (more colloquial)
不少饭店 – quite a few restaurants

Why is there no measure word before 饭店? Could I say 很多家饭店?

Both 很多饭店 and 很多家饭店 are acceptable.

家 is the usual classifier for shops, companies, restaurants, etc.
- 很多家饭店 literally “many (classifier) restaurants,” slightly more concrete/countable.
With general quantifiers like 很多, it is very common to omit the classifier:
- 很多学校 / 很多公司 / 很多饭店

So the sentence as given is perfectly natural. Adding 家 is fine too and often used when you want to emphasize individual businesses.

Does 饭店 always mean “restaurant”? I’ve also seen it translated as “hotel.”

饭店 can mean both, depending on context:

Restaurant – very common meaning, especially in everyday speech:
- 这家饭店很好吃。 – “This restaurant is really good.”
Hotel – often for larger or older-style places (especially in Mainland China):
- 北京饭店 – “Beijing Hotel”

In your sentence 有很多饭店, the natural interpretation is “many restaurants” (places to eat), not “many hotels,” unless the larger context strongly suggests hotels.

For other words:

饭馆 / 餐馆 – usually small to medium restaurants, quite colloquial.
餐厅 – dining hall / restaurant, often a bit more formal or part of a larger building (company cafeteria, hotel restaurant, etc.).
酒店 / 宾馆 – commonly “hotel” (though 酒店 can also be “liquor store” in some contexts).

Could I say 我家附近有很多饭店 instead? How would that differ from 我住的公寓附近有很多饭店?

Yes, 我家附近有很多饭店 is very natural and often more common in conversation.

我住的公寓附近有很多饭店。
Focuses on “the apartment that I live in” – precise about the kind of place.
我家附近有很多饭店。
“There are many restaurants near my home.” More generic and very idiomatic in speech.

If your “home” is that apartment, they effectively describe the same situation; the difference is just wording and level of specificity.