Il centro è affollato di turisti.

The centre is crowded with tourists.

Breakdown of Il centro è affollato di turisti.

• essere: to be
• il turista: the tourist
• affollato: crowded
• il centro: the centre

Questions & Answers about Il centro è affollato di turisti.

What does centro mean in this context?

centro refers to the “city center” or “downtown” area of a town or city—the main hub where shops, cafés and tourist attractions are concentrated.

Is affollato here a verb form or an adjective?

affollato is the past participle of affollare, but in this sentence it functions as a predicate adjective. It describes the state of il centro (“crowded”), not an action being carried out right now.

Does this sentence use the passive voice?

Although it has the structure essere + past participle (which often signals a passive), here affollato acts as a stative adjective (“is crowded”), not a true dynamic passive describing an action done by someone.

Why is it affollato di turisti and not affollato da turisti?

• affollato di turisti means “filled with tourists,” focusing on what’s inside or present in the centre.
• affollato da turisti would sound like “crowded by tourists,” emphasizing the tourists as agents doing the crowding. In everyday Italian, di is used to say “full of” or “crowded with.”

Why is there no article before turisti (why not dei turisti)?

After di expressing general content, Italian often omits the article: affollato di turisti = “crowded with tourists” in a general sense. If you say affollato dei turisti, you’d be specifying “crowded with some/specific tourists,” which is less common in this generic observation.

Can I replace affollato di with pieno di? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say il centro è pieno di turisti.
Difference:

• affollato implies a sense of crowding or jam-packed with people.
• pieno is neutral and can apply to people or objects (“full of people/goods/etc.”).

How do I change affollato if the subject is feminine or plural?

Adjectives agree in gender and number:

• Sing. masc.: affollato (il centro è affollato)
• Sing. fem.: affollata (la piazza è affollata)
• Plur. masc.: affollati (i mercati sono affollati)
• Plur. fem.: affollate (le strade sono affollate)

How do I pronounce affollato and where is the stress?

affollato is pronounced [af-fol-ˈla-to], with the stress on the second l (“a-FOL-la-to”).