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Vincent Teo

#395529 Mon, 23 Jul 07 11:55 AM

Can I say,

(A) The city is not busy.

(b) The traffic is not busy.

Vincent Teo

Joined on Sat, Mar 31 2007

Senior Member (3,766)

Grammar Geek

#395643 Mon, 23 Jul 07 02:55 PM

"The traffic is not busy" sounds okay to me, but not "The city is not busy."

This seems idiomatic.

You can have a sleepy town (not much going on) or a bustling city (a lot of activity), but that refers to the overall character, not the activity at that moment.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,304)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

CalifJim

#395787 Mon, 23 Jul 07 07:54 PM

a)
There's not much activity in the city.
There's not much going on in the city.
The city is quiet.
It's quiet in the city.

b)
Traffic is not very heavy.
Traffic is light.
There's not much traffic.
There's hardly any traffic.

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,572)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche