Monday 27 September 2010

Big, large and great

We use big and large with concrete nouns (things you can see, touch etc)

e.g. Can you see that big tree over there? There was a large pond in the middle of the park.

Great with concrete nouns means:

Fantastic e.g. We saw a great flat downtown.
Famous/Important e.g. Shakespeare was a great playwright.

Large and Extraordinary e.g. Did you see the great opening for the Chinese Olympic Games 2008?

Great is used with abstract nouns (things you can’t see, touch etc)

e.g. I have a great idea! Let’s go shopping.
e.g. She studied hard and made a great improvement.

Large with countable abstract nouns is used for:

Quantities: e.g. We placed a large order for our busy shopping season.
Amounts: e.g. A large amount of time is spent on shopping. We spend a large part of the weekend shopping.

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