Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner1]

Hello,

'A car accident made the congestion worse.'

1.Could we use 'got' or 'had' instead of 'made' here?

2.Could we use 'jam' or 'traffic jam' instead of 'congestion' here?e.g.

'A car accident made the jam worse.'

'A car accident made the traffic jam worse.'

Thank you very much.

[Anuradha Chepur]

1. made is the ideal choice, got is usable, had could be used perhaps, but doesn't appeal to me.

2. A congestion or a jam will usually lead to a traffic jam, so you might use them.

[learner1]

Hello Anuradha,

Thank you very much for your answer . Could you please explain what you mean by 'made is the ideal choice, got is usable, had could be used perhaps, but doesn't appeal to me.'?

Do you mean that the three sentences are interchangeable?
'A car accident made the jam worse.' ,
'A car accident made the traffic jam worse.'
'A car accident made the congestion worse.'


Thank you very much.

[Anuradha Chepur]

I mean made is the best word. got can be used, but made would be better. It might be possible to use had, but I don't like it and I am guessing most people wouldn't like it.

Yes, the three sentences virtually mean the same thing, therefore interchangeable.

[learner1]

Thank you very much again, Anuradha.

[learner1]

Hello,

Could someone please check if the sentence is correct about the usage of 'congestion'?

'He was stuck in a traffic congestion for over two hours.'

Thank you very much.

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Learner -

"stuck in traffic" is pretty much a set phrase...you should not use 'stuck in a traffic congestion'.

You seem to be working very hard at 'traffic' - is it for a particular text/exam or some work related function? Philo

[learner1]

Hello Philo,

Thank you very much for your reply.
I learned the word 'congestion' recently. I was just curious and tried to learn more about it. That is all.

Thanks a lot.