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How to Say ‘There was a lot of traffic’ in Portuguese

Houve muito trânsito

OH-v MWEE-too TRAN-zee-too

[OH-v MWEE-too TRAN-zee-too]

💬 Usage Tip: [Houve] is used for [there was], not just [someone had]. You can reuse the same pattern in complaints: [houve um erro], [houve trânsito], [houve confusão].

Phrase Breakdown

Houve

[OH-v]

there was

'Houve' is the past form of 'haver' and here means 'there was' or 'there were'.

Example

Houve muito trânsito na avenida principal.

There was a lot of traffic on the main avenue.

muito

[MWEE-too]

a lot of / much

'Muito' means 'a lot of' or 'much', depending on the context.

Example

Houve muito trânsito àquela hora.

There was a lot of traffic at that time.

trânsito

[TRAN-zee-too]

traffic

'Trânsito' means traffic, especially vehicles on the road.

Example

O trânsito aumentou o preço da corrida.

The traffic increased the price of the ride.

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