Confusing words in English: Crowded vs. Congested

In this lesson, we are going to focus on the words 'crowded' and 'congested'. You will learn how to use these two adjectives correctly through examples. 

CROWDED 

If a place is crowded, it means it is full of people. It is also difficult to move or to find a place to sit or stand. 

Now, let's look at some examples of places that can be crowded. 

Examples: 

• The train was really crowded, and we had to stand. 
• Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is the most crowded intersection in the world with hundreds of people crossing at a time, and coming from all directions at once. 
• Oxford Street in London attracts millions of people every year. The street is lined with bars, hotels, and shops, but because it is such a crowded place, authorities were forced to double the amount of pavement. 
• Mong Kok is a major shopping area in Hong Kong with an extremely high population density of 130,000 per square km, which makes it the most crowded district in the world, according to the Guinness World Records. 

PREPOSITION 

• Florence turned out to be a complete disappointment for her. She was that type of traveller who would seek out the authentic. She found the city not only expensive, but also crowded with tourists. This made it difficult for her to spend too much time waiting in line to get into the museums and galleries, so she skipped all that. 
• A lot of European cities are usually crowded with visitors in the summer.  

VERBS + crowded 

• be crowded  
• become crowded 
• get crowded 

Note: What can be crowded? This could be a city, street, train, bus, boat, station, airport, subway, room, shop, shopping centre, restaurant, swimming pool, stadium, car park, etc. Any place where there are a lot of people. 

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CONGESTED 

If a place is congested, it means it is full of traffic, so everybody moves very slowly. 
'Congested' is used to talk about traffic in terms of vehicles. Think about 'traffic congestion' or 'traffic jam'. We can even say 'air traffic' to refer to the number of planes landing and taking off.

Now, let's look at some examples of places that can be congested. 
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Examples: 

• At rush hour in Bangkok, thousands of motorcycles hit the streets and the centre's really congested. 
• I think we need to plan our journey in advance to avoid any congested areas. 
• Beijing is considered (to be) the most congested city in China. 
• Many airports in Europe are heavily congested. (= with a lot of air traffic) 
• I try to avoid congested roads in the city as much as I can, and I also tend to switch to less congested times of day, or make fewer journeys. 
• The city centre has become heavily congested in recent years due to the increase of car ownership. 

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PREPOSITION 

• Some areas are congested with both cars and people. 

VERBS + congested 

• be congested 
• become congested 
• get congested 

Note: What can be congested? This could be a city, a road, a street, an area, etc. 
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Other lessons:
Confusing words: Know someone vs. Meet someone, Alone vs. Lonely, To feel cold vs. To have a cold, Desert vs. Dessert 
Confusing words: Begin vs. Start, End vs. Finish 
Confusing words: Come vs. Go 
Confusing words: Bring vs. Take 
Phrases with HAVE and TAKE 
Confusing words in English: Fast, Quick or Quickly 
Confusing words in English: Slow or Slowly 
Confusing words in English: Famous vs. Popular 


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