Breakdown of zhè gè chéngshì de jiāotōng zài shìzhōngxīn hěn yōngjǐ, zài jiāoqū bǐjiào qīngsōng.
Used when counting nouns or when specifying a specific instance of a noun.
There are also classifiers for people, for bound items such as books and magazines, for cups/glasses, etc.
The classifier 个 is a general one that can be used for any of these.
Questions & Answers about zhè gè chéngshì de jiāotōng zài shìzhōngxīn hěn yōngjǐ, zài jiāoqū bǐjiào qīngsōng.
的 is a structural particle that links a modifier to a noun.
- 这(个)城市 = this city
- 交通 = traffic
- 这个城市的交通 = the traffic of this city / this city’s traffic
So the pattern is:
[possessor / descriptor] + 的 + [noun]
→ 这个城市 + 的 + 交通 = this city’s traffic
Without 的, 这个城市交通 sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard modern Mandarin.
In Chinese, adjectives can function like verbs and directly form the predicate.
- …交通很拥挤 literally = this city’s traffic very-crowded
You usually:
- don’t say: 交通是很拥挤 (possible in some emphatic or contrastive contexts, but not the default)
- do say: 交通很拥挤, 天气很冷, 他很高
Pattern:
[subject] + 很 + [adjective]
acts like English “to be + adjective”. So 是 is normally omitted here.
In everyday speech, 很 before an adjective often does not strongly mean “very”; it mainly makes the sentence sound natural.
- 交通拥挤 is grammatically possible but often sounds a bit bare or like a headline.
- 交通很拥挤 sounds like a normal, complete statement.
So here 很 is:
- semantically: “quite / rather / (very)”
- functionally: a common, almost default adverb before adjectives.
If you really want to emphasize “very,” you can use 非常, 特别, 极其, etc.
在 here is a preposition meaning “at / in / on”, introducing a location phrase:
- 在市中心 = in the city center
- 在郊区 = in the suburbs
Structure of each clause:
- (这个城市的交通) 在市中心 很拥挤
- (这个城市的交通) 在郊区 比较轻松
So 在 + location tells you where the traffic is crowded or relaxed.
Repeating 在 keeps the two parts parallel and clear:
- 在市中心很拥挤 (in the center, it’s crowded)
- 在郊区比较轻松 (in the suburbs, it’s more relaxed)
If you drop the second 在, 郊区比较轻松 is still understandable, but:
- it’s slightly less neat in structure
- it could sound a bit like “the suburbs are more relaxed” as a general comment, rather than clearly “the traffic there is more relaxed.”
So repeating 在 stresses you’re still talking about the traffic in those locations.
Here, 比较 is an adverb meaning “relatively / comparatively / rather”, not the verb “to compare”.
- 比较轻松 = relatively relaxed / comparatively light / rather easy-going
So the second clause means:
- 在郊区比较轻松 = in the suburbs, (the traffic) is relatively relaxed.
When 比较 means “to compare (A and B)”, it’s usually used as a verb and followed by what you’re comparing:
- 比较A和B = compare A and B
That sense is not used in this sentence.
They express different degrees and nuances:
很拥挤:
- “(quite/very) crowded”
- Sounds like a stronger statement, more factual: “It is crowded.”
比较轻松:
- “relatively relaxed / comparatively light”
- Softer, implies: “Compared to something (e.g. the city center), it’s more relaxed.”
Using 很 in the first and 比较 in the second sets up a contrast:
- very crowded vs. relatively relaxed.
You could say 在市中心很拥挤，在郊区也很轻松, but you’d lose the comparative nuance.
轻松 often means “relaxed, easy(-going)” for people or situations, but it can also describe things like workload, atmosphere, schedule, traffic, etc.
- 工作很轻松 = the job is easy / not demanding
- 气氛很轻松 = the atmosphere is relaxed
- 交通比较轻松 = traffic is light / not too heavy
So here, 轻松 means the traffic isn’t stressful or heavy—“light, easy, not crowded.”
Both orders are actually possible in Chinese, but the sentence uses:
- Subject: 这个城市的交通 (this city’s traffic)
- Location phrase: 在市中心 (in the city center)
- Predicate: 很拥挤 (very crowded)
So: [subject] + 在[place] + [adjective]
You can also front the location:
- 在市中心，这个城市的交通很拥挤。
That’s also correct; it just gives the place more emphasis. The original order is very natural and typical: set the topic (this city’s traffic), then say where and how it is.
个 is the default / most common measure word, and it’s perfectly fine here:
- 这个城市 = this city
However, you might also see:
- 这座城市:
- 座 (zuò) is a measure word often used for large, immovable things like mountains and cities.
- Sounds slightly more descriptive or literary, but also common in spoken Chinese.
So:
- 这个城市的交通 (neutral, everyday)
- 这座城市的交通 (a bit more vivid/formal)
Both are correct.
Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.
在郊区比较轻松
- Literally: “In the suburbs, (it) is relatively relaxed.”
- The subject “这个城市的交通” is understood from context.
郊区的交通比较轻松
- Literally: “The traffic in the suburbs is relatively relaxed.”
- Now 郊区的交通 is the explicit subject.
Both are grammatically correct; the original keeps the same subject (“这个城市的交通”) in both clauses and just changes the location with 在 + place.
The two parts are two separate but parallel clauses:
- 在市中心很拥挤
- 在郊区比较轻松
Joined by a comma, this reads like:
- “(It’s) very crowded in the city center, (but) relatively relaxed in the suburbs.”
If you used 和 (“and”), e.g.
- 在市中心很拥挤和在郊区比较轻松
that would sound unnatural. 和 usually connects words or short phrases, not full clauses like these. The comma is the normal way to connect such parallel descriptive clauses.
Yes.
- 这个城市的交通… = the traffic of this city
- 城市的交通… = (a/the) city’s traffic in general / “in cities, the traffic…” (depending on context)
So:
- 城市的交通在市中心很拥挤，在郊区比较轻松。
Could be understood as a general statement about cities if context supports it.
Removing 这(个) makes it less specific and more general.