Translation guide
This guide covers how to express that a place is crowded with people in Japanese, from common adjectives to descriptive phrases.
To say a place is crowded or full of people in a general sense.
The most common and neutral way to say a place is crowded. Used for trains, streets, stores, etc.
駅はとても混んでいた。
The station was very crowded.
この店はいつも混んでいる。
This shop is always crowded.
To emphasize that a place is so crowded that people are packed together, like on a rush-hour train.
To describe a place so crowded that people seem to spill out or overflow.
Means 'overflowing', often used with 人で to mean overflowing with people.
通りは人であふれていた。
The street was overflowing with people.
A stronger, more emphatic version of あふれている, meaning 'swarming with people'.
混んでいる is the everyday word for 'crowded'. 混雑している is more formal and often used in traffic reports or official announcements. For casual conversation, stick with 混んでいる.
Do not directly translate 'be crowded with people' as 人で混んでいる (though it's understandable). The natural pattern is simply 混んでいる or 人でいっぱいだ. Using 人で混んでいる is not wrong but can sound slightly redundant.
Literally 'full of people', a very common and natural phrase.
公園は人でいっぱいだった。
The park was crowded with people.
A slightly more formal term for congestion or crowding, often used in announcements or written descriptions.
道路が混雑しています。
The roads are congested.
Implies a lively, bustling crowd, often with a positive connotation. Used for festivals, shopping streets, etc.
祭りで町が賑わっている。
The town is bustling with people at the festival.
Means 'full capacity' or 'packed', often used for trains, buses, elevators. 満員電車 is a common term for a packed train.
電車は満員だった。
The train was packed with people.
満員電車に乗るのは大変だ。
It's tough to ride a packed train.
An onomatopoeic word describing a tightly packed, squeezed state. Very colloquial.
バスがぎゅうぎゅうで動けなかった。
The bus was so packed I couldn't move.
Literally 'packed like sushi', meaning extremely crowded with no space to move. Vivid and slightly humorous.
会場はすし詰め状態だった。
The venue was packed like sardines.
スタジアムは人であふれかえっていた。
The stadium was swarming with people.