traffic jam — congested road
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
A situation where vehicles are moving very slowly or not at all because there are too many on the road.
Say it like a native
Textbook We were delayed by severe vehicular congestion.
Native We got stuck in a traffic jam.
Natural; 'vehicular congestion' is traffic-report jargon.
Pattern: traffic jam (noun, countable); in a traffic jam, get stuck in a traffic jam
In use
- I was late for work because I got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway.daily life
- In my city, traffic jams are common during rush hour, which makes commuting to work very stressful.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ There was a big traffic on the road.
✓ There was a lot of traffic / a traffic jam.
'Traffic' is uncountable (not 'a traffic'); the countable phrase is 'a traffic jam'.
Common collocations
stuck in a traffic jam— stuck in, caught in, huge, rush-hour
Don't confuse it
Different from 'heavy traffic', which means a lot of cars but they might still be moving.