堵车 meaning in English

dǔchē

traffic jam; (of traffic) to get congested

HSK 4Traditional 堵車15 strokes

Meaning of 堵车

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dǔchē

traffic jam
(of traffic) to get congested

How to use 堵车

堵车 works as a noun (a traffic jam) or as a verb (traffic is jammed). It often appears with 很 or 了 to describe the roads. Example: 今天路上堵车了。(Jīntiān lùshang dǔchē le.) The roads were jammed today.

堵 (dǔ) has the earth radical 土, like a pile of dirt blocking a path, and 车 (chē) means vehicle. When the road is blocked, the cars stop: 堵车.

Common mistake: Learners often say 交通很挤 for a traffic jam, but the natural phrase is 堵车 or 路上很堵 (lùshang hěn dǔ). Also keep 堵 in the third tone, dǔ. Do not say it as dù.

堵车 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

现xiàn在zài才cái6点diǎn半bàn，怎zěn么me会huì堵dǔ车chē呢ne？

How can there be a traffic jam now, as late as 6 o'clock?

因yīn为wèi堵dǔ车chē，我wǒ开kāi会huì迟chí到dào了le。

Because there was traffic, I was late to the meeting.

你nǐ现xiàn在zài出chū门mén的de话huà，肯kěn定dìng会huì堵dǔ车chē的de。

If you leave now, I'm sure you'll be caught in a traffic jam.

快kuài要yào到dào早zǎo上shàng的de繁fán忙máng时shí段duàn了le，我wǒ们men还hái不bù出chū发fā就jiù要yào堵dǔ车chē了le。

If we don't hit the road soon, we'll get caught in the morning rush hour traffic.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

堵 dǔ · to block up · 11 strokes

车 chē · car · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 堵车.

开车	kāichē	to drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual jok
火车	huǒchē	train
上车	shàng chē	to get on or into (a bus, train, car etc)
汽车	qìchē	car; automobile
下车	xià chē	to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc)
车上	chē shang
车站	chēzhàn	rail station; bus stop
车票	chēpiào	ticket for a bus or train
打车	dǎchē	to take a taxi (in town); to hitch a lift
停车	tíngchē	to pull up (stop one's vehicle); to park
出租车	chūzūchē	taxi; (Tw) rental car
自行车	zìxíngchē	bicycle; bike

Questions about 堵车

What does 堵车 mean?

堵车 (dǔchē) means "traffic jam; (of traffic) to get congested".

How do you write 堵车?

堵车 is made of 2 characters: 堵 (11 strokes), 车 (4 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.

Is 堵车 an HSK word?

Yes. 堵车 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 堵车 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 堵车 is written 堵車.

Can I split 堵车 into two parts in a sentence?

Yes. 堵车 is a verb plus object, so you can insert words between the two parts, as in 堵了一个小时的车 (dǔ le yí gè xiǎoshí de chē), which means being stuck in traffic for an hour. You can also just say 很堵 (hěn dǔ) to mean the traffic is bad.

How do I say I was late because of a traffic jam?

A common way is 因为堵车，我迟到了。(Yīnwèi dǔchē, wǒ chídào le.) You might also hear 路上堵车 (lùshang dǔchē), meaning there was traffic on the way.