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[Laura C]

Hi all,

Apologies if there is another, more appropriate, forum for this question -- I'm in a bit of a hurry...

One of my Japanese colleagues is studying for the teacher entrance exams and she asked me the difference between the words 'big' and 'large'. Does anyone have any definitions or examples that would help her?

Thanks from us both,

Laura

[kev7161]

I think LARGE is more of a size issue (and a politer way than saying "fat"). The large man, the large football field - - it really lets you know that something is bigger than usual. Big is more widely used to cover a lot of things: Big-hearted, big tipper, big paycheck, etc.

Back in my college days, a teacher of mine said there are two kinds of English: "high" english and "low" english. Low english are more common words that anyone can use (especially a foreign language student), regardless of their educational background or their mastery of english. "Big" would be an example. High english is a more "snooty" (my word, not hers) way of speaking (or a more educated way of speaking). "Wow! He has a big nose!" or "Hmmm, his nose is rather larger than normal, wouldn't you say?"

I have students all the time asking me if they can say it this way instead of that and I try to explain to them that, in English, there seems to be a hundred different ways of saying the same thing. Which do you find more interesting?

[delian]

Not that I disagree with any of the explanations above, but have you tried doing a bit of analysis yourself? (or has your friend?)

Concordances for 'big' (from the Brown Corpus - 1 million words)
1 as House of Representatives was an effort by big cities like Dallas and Fort Worth to cover u
2 se lost to the alleged water needs of Texas' big cities Thursday. Rep. James Cotten of Wea
3 ers- Texas, Arkansas and Texas A+ M- made a big dent in the statistics last week. A12 1680
4 just turned on the ignition when there was a big flash and I was lying on the driveway", he s
5 ween the Capitol and the White House for the big inaugural parade on Jan. 20. Assuming the
6 o play while the clock is running, he gets a big kick- several every Saturday, in fact- out o
7 ed out Mills's early pace and beat the young Big 10 quarter-mile king by 5 yards. Both were u
8 Over the first five frames, Jack Fisher, the big righthandler who figures to be in the middle
9 ory over the Air Force Academy. "I think the big thing about the game was that our kids for t
10 he Birds' spring squad at 49 players. The big, 22-year-old shortstop, the 1960 American le

Concordances for 'large' (same corpus)
1 work on the line until then because of the large amount of acid sewage from jewelry plants in
2 ffort by Parkhouse to help Dallas and other large cities get money which Cotten felt could bet
3 the verdict read. The trial had packed the large courtroom for more than a week. A Sterli
4 m St. Petersburg, including Joe Dimaggio and large crowds are anticipated for both weekend game
5 tied in with his aged care plan requests for large federal grants to finance medical and dental
6 RE# The COAHR letter comes on the eve of a large gathering of theater managers and owners sch
7 Robinsonville, Miss. and Helene Rowley. The large municipal hall was ablaze with color, which
8 nly day they "have a chance to compete with large supermarkets is on Sunday", the council's res
9 . The council advised the governor that "large supermarkets, factory outlets and department
10 Gov. Meyner's "Green Acres" plan for saving large tracts of open land from the onrush of urban

(from <http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html>)

[Laura C]

[quote="kev7161"]I think LARGE is more of a size issue (and a politer way than saying "fat").

That was my take on it too. But the teacher's guidebook says that you can't use large to refer to a person...

Thanks for the examples Delian. I did give a few similar ones, but the problem I had with this question was that her guidebook seemed to indicate there was very specific usage for the 2 terms, so Iwonderede if there was a linguistic rule I could apply to them.

[Stephen Jones]

You can always use 'big' instead of 'large' but not vice-versa.

[Kurochan]

[dmb]

[biffinbridge]

Large can be used with drinks...ie,'I'll have a large one please'...Oh and Damo ,it's your round and I want the real rum not 'Old Monk'!!

[dmb]

[biffinbridge]

You're on.I'll bring the 'Laotian herbal medicine' and 'magic papers'.

[lozwich]

Just between you, me and the fencepost, gang,

I think Biffy's cracking up!!

In a big way.

Lozwich.

[Ludwig]

[Glenski]

Here is what Michael Swan has to say about big and large in Practical English Usage:

105 big, large and great

1. concrete nouns: big and large
Big and large are used mostly with concrete nouns -- the names of things you can see, touch, etc. Bis is most common in an informal style.
Get your big feet off the sofa.
I'm afraid my daughter has rather large feet.

2. abstract nouns: great
Great is used mostly with abstract nouns -- things you cannot see, touch, etc.
Her work showed a great improvement last year.
I have great respect for her ideas.

3. big with countable abstract nouns
Big can be used with countable abstract nouns in an informal style. Large is not normally used with abstract nouns.
You're making a big mistake. (not a large mistake)
Big is not used with uncountable abstract nouns (except in a few fixed expressions like big business or big trouble).
His work shows great intelligence. (not big intelligence)

4. uncountable concrete nouns
With these, none of these three words is usual.
You've got a lot of luggage. (not big/large/great luggage)

[Laura C]

Thanks everyone. Esp Glenski -- Practical English Usage looks like a good book to have. We now both have a good grip on the differences between big and large!

Thanks again all,

L