Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā juéde chéngli de jiāotōng tài yōngjǐ le, měitiān dōu shòubuliǎo. - He feels the traffic in the city is too crowded and he can’t stand it every day.

You can sometimes drop 的 in certain fixed or short combinations (e.g. 中国人), but for phrases like 城里(的)交通, using 的 is the most natural and neutral choice, especially in standard written/normal spoken Chinese. Without 的, it can sound a bit rough or less natural here.

What’s the difference between 觉得 (juéde) and other verbs like 想 (xiǎng) or 认为 (rènwéi)?

All three can relate to thinking, but their usage is different:

觉得 = to feel / to think / to have an opinion (very common, often about personal feelings or impressions)
- 他觉得交通太拥挤。= He feels/thinks the traffic is too crowded.
想 = to think / to want / to miss
- As “think”: often about the act of thinking or planning:
  - 我想一想。= Let me think about it.
- As “want”: 我想喝水。= I want to drink water.
认为 = to consider / to hold the view that
- More formal or logical, often used in written or serious speech:
  - 我认为这个办法更好。= I consider this method better.

In this sentence, 觉得 is perfect because it expresses his personal feeling/opinion about the traffic.

How does the pattern 太…了 (tài…le) work in 太拥挤了? Is it just “very crowded”?

太…了 expresses excessiveness or a strong emotion: “too …” or “so … that it’s almost too much.”

太 (tài) = too / excessively
拥挤 (yōngjǐ) = crowded
了 (le) here is part of the pattern, showing a strong, often emotional reaction.

So 太拥挤了 is closer to “(It’s) too crowded” or “(It’s) so crowded (I can’t stand it)”, not just “very crowded.”

For “very crowded” in a neutral way, you’d more likely use 很拥挤.

What exactly is the 了 (le) doing at the end of 太拥挤了 and at the end of the sentence?

Here, 了 after 太拥挤 is a sentence-final 了, not the same as the “completed action” 了 you see after verbs.

Sentence-final 了 often indicates:

A new situation or change of state
The speaker’s emotional attitude

In 城里的交通太拥挤了, it suggests something like:
> The traffic in the city is (now) too crowded / has become too crowded.

It makes the emotion stronger and more immediate. If you omit 了, 太拥挤 is still understandable but sounds a bit flatter or more written/less colloquial. In many 太…了 sentences, 了 is part of a natural pattern of emotional emphasis.

What does 受不了 (shòubuliǎo) literally mean, and how is it formed?

受不了 is a result complement structure:

受 (shòu) = to bear / to endure / to stand
不 (bù) = not
了 (liǎo) = able to (in this complement pattern)

So literally, 受不了 = “cannot endure / cannot stand (it)”.

The pattern is:
Verb + 不 + 了 → cannot Verb (to the point of completion/ability)

Common examples:

吃不了 = can’t finish eating (can’t eat that much)
忍不了 = can’t tolerate

In this sentence, 每天都受不了 = “(he) can’t stand it every day.”

Why is there no subject in the second part 每天都受不了? Who is “can’t stand it”?

In Chinese, if two clauses share the same subject, the subject is often omitted in the second clause.

First clause: 他觉得城里的交通太拥挤了 → subject is 他 (he).
Second clause: 每天都受不了 → subject is still 他, but it’s dropped because it’s already clear from context.

So the full, very redundant version would be:
他觉得城里的交通太拥挤了，他每天都受不了。
But natural Chinese just omits the second 他.

What’s the function of 都 (dōu) in 每天都受不了? Can I leave it out?

都 here emphasizes “every / all”:

每天都受不了 ≈ “(he) can’t stand it every single day.”

Without 都:

每天受不了 is still understandable, but 都 makes it feel more complete and natural when used with 每天, 每次, 每个人, etc.

General pattern:

每 + (time/people/thing) + 都 + Verb
- 每个人都知道。= Everyone knows.
- 每次都迟到。= (He) is late every time.

So you could drop 都, but you’d lose some of that natural emphasis on “every.”

Why is it 城里的交通 instead of something like 交通在城里?

城里的交通 is “the traffic in the city”—a noun phrase where 城里 (in the city) modifies 交通 via 的.

城里的 = of/in the city (attributive phrase)
交通 = traffic

This is the normal way to say “the city’s traffic / urban traffic.”

交通在城里 is grammatically possible, but that’s a full clause meaning
> “Traffic is in the city” / “The traffic is located in the city,”
which is not what we want here.

Chinese often prefers “[place] + 的 + [noun]” for things that belong to or are characteristic of a place:

学校的老师 = the school’s teachers
北京的空气 = Beijing’s air

Is there an implied “is” (like English “is”) in 城里的交通太拥挤了? Why is there no 是 (shì)?

In Chinese, adjectives can directly act as predicates without a verb like “to be”:

交通很拥挤。= The traffic is very crowded.
天气太热了。= The weather is too hot.

You add 是 when you’re equating two nouns or doing certain emphasis patterns:

他是老师。= He is a teacher.
这就是问题。= This is the problem.

But with adjectival predicates like 太拥挤了, you normally don’t use 是 in between.
So 城里的交通太拥挤了 is already complete: “The traffic in the city is too crowded.”

What’s the difference between 拥挤 (yōngjǐ) and 挤 (jǐ)?

Both relate to crowding, but usage differs:

拥挤 (adj./verb) = crowded / to be crowded
- 这里很拥挤。= It’s very crowded here.
- 城里的交通太拥挤了。= The traffic in the city is too crowded.
挤 (verb/adj.) = to squeeze; crowded (often more colloquial)
- 地铁里很挤。= It’s very crowded in the subway.
- 别挤我。= Don’t squeeze me.

In this sentence, 拥挤 sounds more neutral/standard, slightly more formal, and fits well for describing traffic. Saying 交通太挤了 is understandable and used in speech, but 拥挤 is the textbook/standard adjective for “congested/crowded.”

How do we know the time (tense) of this sentence? Why can it mean “he thinks” or “he finds” without a tense marker?

Chinese doesn’t have verb tenses like English does (no -ed / -s / will). Time is indicated by:

Context
Time words: 昨天 (yesterday), 现在 (now), 每天 (every day), etc.
Aspect particles like 了, 过, 着 (for completion, experience, ongoing state)

Here, 每天 (every day) tells us it’s a habitual, ongoing situation:

他觉得… = He (currently/generally) feels that…
每天都受不了 = He can’t stand it every day.

So the natural English is “He thinks / He finds / He feels (nowadays)…”, not just at one time in the past.

Could we say 城市的交通 instead of 城里的交通? What’s the nuance difference?

Yes, you can say 城市的交通; both are correct, but nuance differs slightly:

城里的交通
- Literally “the traffic in the city.”
- Sounds a bit more colloquial and concrete, as if you’re picturing being in the city.
城市的交通
- Literally “the city’s traffic.”
- Slightly more neutral/general, often used when talking about cities in a more abstract or formal way:
  - 现代城市的交通问题 = modern cities’ traffic problems.

In this specific everyday, personal-complaint sentence, 城里的交通 feels very natural and vivid.