Breakdown of zǎoshang bā diǎn shìzhōngxīn de jiāotōng zuì yōngjǐ, gōngjiāochē hé dìtiě dōu hěn mǎn.
Questions & Answers about zǎoshang bā diǎn shìzhōngxīn de jiāotōng zuì yōngjǐ, gōngjiāochē hé dìtiě dōu hěn mǎn.
Chinese likes to put time expressions at the beginning of the sentence. A very common pattern is:
Time + Place + Subject + Verb/Adjective (predicate)
So:
- 早上八点市中心的交通最拥挤。
literally: 8 a.m. city-center’s traffic most crowded.
You can move the time, but it will sound a bit less natural or change the focus:
- 市中心的交通早上八点最拥挤。 – still correct, focus more on when it’s worst.
- 市中心的交通最拥挤在早上八点。 – possible but marked / less natural in everyday speech.
For a beginner/intermediate level, it’s safest and most natural to put the time at the very start as in the original sentence.
Here 市中心的交通 is one whole noun phrase:
- 市中心的交通 = the traffic of the city center / city-center traffic
So 市中心 is just modifying 交通 with 的, like an adjective or “of the city center”.
If you used 在, you would be making 在市中心 a location phrase, not a modifier:
- 早上八点，在市中心，交通最拥挤。
→ At 8 a.m., *in the city center, traffic is the most congested.*
Both are grammatical, but:
- 市中心的交通最拥挤 = talking about the traffic itself (city-center traffic is the worst).
- 在市中心，交通最拥挤 = talking about traffic in that place (in the city center, traffic is the worst).
The original sentence chooses the first structure.
的 here links a modifier (市中心) to a noun (交通):
- X 的 Y ≈ “Y of X” or “X’s Y” or “Y that is related to X”
So:
- 市中心的交通 = the traffic of the city center / the city-center traffic
- Structure: (place) 的 (thing related to that place)
This 的 is extremely common:
- 北京的冬天 – Beijing’s winter / winter in Beijing
- 学校的老师 – the school’s teachers / the teachers at the school
In Chinese, many adjectives can act directly as predicates, functioning like verbs. You don’t need 是 before them in a normal descriptive sentence:
- 交通最拥挤。 – literally Traffic most crowded.
→ means Traffic is the most crowded.
Compare:
- 今天很冷。 – Today (is) very cold.
- 他很忙。 – He (is) very busy.
You would normally use 是 before:
- A noun:
- 他是老师。 – He is a teacher.
- Certain emphasis/contrast structures.
So:
- 交通最拥挤 (correct, natural)
- 交通是最拥挤 (usually unnecessary and awkward here)
Yes, 最 (zuì) is the basic word for “most / -est” (superlative degree).
Pattern:
- 最 + adjective
- 最大 – biggest / largest
- 最贵 – most expensive
- 最方便 – most convenient
- 最拥挤 – most crowded
In context, 交通最拥挤 means:
- Among all times of the day, this time is when traffic is the most crowded.
So 早上八点市中心的交通最拥挤 can be read as:
- At 8 a.m., city-center traffic is *at its most congested.*
Both are related to crowding, but there are nuances.
挤 (jǐ)
- Very common in everyday speech
- Can be a verb: to squeeze, to push, to crowd
- Can be an adjective: crowded, cramped
- 地铁很挤。 – The subway is crowded.
拥挤 (yōngjǐ)
- More formal / written-sounding
- Mainly used as an adjective: crowded, congested
- Often for traffic or large crowds:
- 交通很拥挤。 – Traffic is very congested.
- 人群很拥挤。 – The crowd is very packed.
In your sentence, 交通最拥挤 sounds natural and a bit more formal.
You could also say:
- 早上八点市中心的交通最挤。 – perfectly acceptable, more colloquial.
都 (dōu) means “all / both”, depending on how many things you’re talking about.
Here:
- 公交车和地铁都很满。
Subject: 公交车和地铁 (buses and subway)
都 applies to this whole set → both of them / all of them are full.
Key points:
Position:
- 都 usually comes after the subject and before the predicate:
- 他们都很忙。 – They are all busy.
- 我们都喜欢。 – We all like it.
- 都 usually comes after the subject and before the predicate:
Number:
- With two items: 都 corresponds to “both”.
- With more than two: 都 corresponds to “all”.
So 公交车和地铁都很满 means both buses and the subway are full.
很 (hěn) literally means “very”, but in predicate sentences with adjectives it also works as a kind of linking adverb.
Without 很, many sentences with subject + adjective sound:
- Either abrupt
- Or like making a strong contrast / judgment
Compare:
- 公交车很满。 – Natural, neutral: “The bus is (very) full.”
- 公交车满。 – Can sound blunt or like a specific judgment (e.g. answering a question “Is it full or empty?” — “满。”)
So in:
- 公交车和地铁都很满。
很:
- Makes the sentence feel grammatically and rhythmically natural.
- Usually does carry some degree sense, more like “quite / really” than always “extremely very”.
In many such sentences, you don’t need to over-translate 很; just “the buses and the subway are full” is fine in English.
Both relate to crowding, but they focus on slightly different ideas:
拥挤 (yōngjǐ) – crowded / congested
- Focus: squeezed, too many people/vehicles in a space
- Used a lot for traffic, crowds, streets, etc.
满 (mǎn) – full
- Focus: capacity is reached (no more space/seats)
- Used for containers, rooms, vehicles, glasses, bags, etc.
So:
- 交通最拥挤 – The traffic (flows of cars/people) is most congested.
- 公交车和地铁都很满 – The vehicles themselves are full (no space inside).
You could say:
- 公交车和地铁都很挤。 – The buses and subway are very crowded. (also good)
- But 很满 emphasizes that they are filled up.
Measure words are needed when you count or quantify nouns:
- 一辆公交车 – one bus
- 三趟地铁 – three subway trains (trips)
In this sentence, you’re not counting individual buses or trains. You’re talking about:
- the bus (system) and the subway (system) in general at that time.
So:
- 公交车和地铁都很满。 – (All) buses and (the) subway (trains) are full.
If you specifically wanted to talk about number, you would add quantifiers:
- 早上八点，有很多辆公交车和很多趟地铁都很满。
– At 8 a.m., many bus trips and many subway trains are all full.
But that’s extra detail. The original sentence is general, so no measure words are needed.
Yes, that is perfectly grammatical:
- 公交车和地铁都很挤。 – The buses and subway are all very crowded.
Nuance:
- 很满 – emphasizes being full to capacity (packed, no room).
- 很挤 – emphasizes the feeling of being squeezed / cramped.
In real life:
- When describing rush hour on public transport, 很挤 is more common in casual speech.
- 很满 sounds a bit more like you’re describing capacity (e.g. ticket sales, occupancy).
Yes, that’s also correct:
- 市中心的交通在早上八点最拥挤。
– City-center traffic is most congested at 8 a.m.
Differences:
早上八点市中心的交通最拥挤。
- Time is at the very front. Very typical and neutral.
- Slight focus on when you’re talking about.
市中心的交通在早上八点最拥挤。
- Subject (市中心的交通) comes first, like in English “City-center traffic is most crowded at 8 a.m.”
- Slightly more like an English word order; still natural Chinese.
Both are fine. Native speakers would use both, depending on context and style.
Chinese often links closely related clauses with a comma, without an explicit connector, when:
- The relationship is obvious from context.
Your sentence:
- 早上八点市中心的交通最拥挤，公交车和地铁都很满。
The second clause is basically adding related information (“and also, at that time, buses and subway are full”). If you want to make that explicit, you can:
- 早上八点市中心的交通最拥挤，而且公交车和地铁都很满。
– … and moreover, buses and the subway are full.
But in everyday writing/speech, just a comma is very natural here. The logical link (roughly “and also”) is understood.