bondé
The English word crowded is translated into French as bondé.
bondé is used to describe a place containing a dense pack or mass of something. It specifically implies a sense of being extremely crowded.
Meaning: containing a dense pack or mass of something (adj)
Which one should you use?
While bondé implies a dense, packed mass (often to the point of discomfort), plein de is a more neutral way to say something is full of things. For formal contexts where you want to emphasize the feeling of being overloaded, you can use surchargé.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective bondé must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Add an -e to make it feminine (bondée), an -s to make it masculine plural (bondés) or -es to make it feminine plural (bondées).
Did you know?
- The word bondé shares a root with bonde, which refers to the plug or bung used to seal a wine barrel. To be bondé originally meant to be filled right up to the plug.
- In French slang, instead of saying a place is bondé, young people might use the word blindé, which literally means 'armoured'.
- French has a specific term, monde, which means 'world' but is used as a shorthand for 'people'. To say a place is crowded, one might say il y a du monde, meaning 'there is some world'.
Examples in context
- La rue est bondée.The street is crowded.This sentence uses bondé to describe a crowded street.Tatoeba #8315568 by Julien_PDC, translation #9590070 by shekitten
- Le bus était bondé.The bus was very crowded.This sentence uses bondé to describe a very crowded bus.Tatoeba #1292307 by sacredceltic, translation #35316 by CK
- La plage était bondée.The beach was crowded.This sentence uses bondé to describe a crowded beach.Tatoeba #3642532 by sacredceltic, translation #2547066 by CK
- La place était bondée de touristes.The square was crowded with tourists.
- Le métro était surchargé ce matin.The metro was crowded this morning.
- Ce bar est plein à craquer ce soir !This bar is packed tonight!
- Le concert était blindé de spectateurs excités.The concert was jam-packed with excited spectators.
- Les rues étaient bondéesThe streets were crowded
- La plage était bondéeThe beach was crowded
- Le centre-ville est toujours bondé de voitures pendant les heures de pointe.The downtown area is always crowded with cars during rush hour.
- La gare était noire de monde après l'annulation du train.The train station was packed with people after the train cancellation.
- 51 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Chloé are deciding whether to go into a restaurant.
- LucasCe restaurant est bondé.This restaurant is crowded.
- ChloéIl est trop bondé pour moi.It is too crowded for me.
- LucasCherchons un endroit plus calme.Let's look for a calmer place.
- ChloéBonne idée, Lucas.Good idea, Lucas.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “crowded” translations and entries bondé, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
