Big vs Large
Difference Between Big and Large
“Big” and “large” are both adjectives, and
sometimes they can be used interchangeably while sometimes they cannot be as
the meaning of the statement changes by their interchanging, or it becomes
incorrect. They can both be used with countable nouns, meaning anything which
can be counted or measured, for example, a large house, a big garden. However,
they cannot be used with uncountable nouns, for example, traffic. “Large” and
“big” both refer to more than average size, height, weight, length, etc.
Big
“Big”
is a very common adjective. It is one of the most used words in the English
language whereas it has been observed that “large” is not used as much as the
word “big.” “Big” has many meanings one of which is “important,” for example:
“The
decision of starting a new business is a big decision.”
Here “big” refers to “something very important.”
In informal situations, “big” refers to “older or elder,” for example:
“He is like a big brother to him; he looks after him as his own kid brother.”
“Big” also refers to “powerful or successful.” It might refer to a successful
or powerful person or successful and powerful thing, city, center, etc. For
example:
“Las Vegas is a big tourist attraction.”
“Big” is used in the case of an action which is considered, informally, of a
large degree, for example:
“People of our generation are big spenders.”
Here “big” refers to “a lot of spending.”
“Big” refers to great strength and force, for example:
“A big storm was gaining ground.”
It can be used for popularity also, for example, “The show ‘Voice’ is big in
the U.S.”
“Big” is used as fixed phrases and cannot be interchanged with “large,” for
example,
“He has a big mouth”; “It is no big deal.”
Large
“Large” is used less commonly than “big.” It is used with quantity words, for
example, large scale, a large number, a large amount of something, a large
proportion, to a very large extent, large volume, large part of something,
large area, etc.
It refers to a greater than average size, for example:
“A large house or large garden.”
It also refers to more than average breadth, capacity, or scope, for example:
“Things of large proportion.”
Significance is also indicated by the word “large,” for example:
“India is a large producer of rice and wheat.”
“Large” also refers to “liberal or tolerant,” for example:
“She had a generous spirit which was large and kind.”
“Large” can be used informally for pretentious and boastful actions or nature,
for example:
“He had a large ego which got hurt easily.”
“Large” is also used in some fixed phrases where it cannot be changed with
“big,” for example:
“Somebody being larger than life. Convicts being at large.”
Summary:
1.“Big” is
one of the most common adjectives used and is one of the most used words in the
English language; “large” is not as commonly used as “big.”
2.“Big” is used for many different meanings like, elder, important, successful,
powerful, etc; “large” has many different usages where it is used for more than
average breadth, capacity, or scope. It also means “significant, liberal,
pretentious,” etc.
Read more: Difference Between Big and Large |
Difference Between http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-big-and-large/#ixzz6dObHGPAH
'Big' is a
very common word in both written and spoken English; in fact, it's in the top
1,000 most frequently used words.
'Large', on
the other hand, is a less frequently used word and doesn't even make it into
the top 3,000 most frequently used words in English.
Now, onto the
question of meaning...
The general
meaning of both 'large' and 'big' is:
'of more than
average size/amount/weight/height' etc.
For example:
'She has got a well-paid job and can afford to live in a house' - OR...'She
lives in a large house'.
In these
examples, both 'big' and 'large' mean that her house is of more than average
size. Although 'big' and 'large' both mean the same in these examples, 'large'
sounds a little more formal.
Neither 'large' nor 'big' can be used with uncountable nouns.
This means,
we can say:
'The house
has a (big or large) garden' - because 'garden' is countable.
However, we
can't use 'big' or 'large' with 'traffic', because 'traffic' is uncountable.
With
uncountable nouns, you can use 'a lot of' - for example:
'There's a
lot of traffic on the road next to the house.'
So, although
'large' and 'big' are often interchangeable, sometimes they are not.
'Big' can
mean 'important', for example: 'Buying a house is a very big decision'.
It can also
be used in informal situations to mean 'older', for example:
'He's my big
brother'... as well as 'successful' or 'powerful', for example:
'York is a
big tourist destination'.
Also in
informal situations, we can use 'big' to mean 'doing something to a large
degree', for example:
'She earns a
lot of money, but she's also a big spender' - OR... 'I'm a big fan of yours'.
'Big' is used
in a lot of fixed phrases, and because these phrases are fixed, to change 'big
'to 'large' would sound wrong. Examples of fixed phrases using 'big' include:
'It's no big
deal' - it's not really important.
'I have big
ideas for this house' - impressive plans for the future.
'She's a big
mouth' - a person who can't be trusted to keep a secret.
'He's too big
for his boots' - too proud of himself.
There are
also some fixed phrases using 'large'.
Examples
include:
'The
prisoners are at large' - they have escaped and may cause harm.
'She's larger
than life' - more exciting or amusing than most people.
Finally, quantity words....
'large', more often than 'big', is used with the following quantity words:
'a large
amount', 'on a large scale', 'a large number of', 'a large quantity of', 'a
large proportion', 'to a large extent', 'a large percentage of', 'a large part
of', 'a large volume' and 'a large area'.
- a big family ~ an important
family / a family with many members
- a large family ~ a family with
many members
- a big event, an important event
/ an event with many people involved
- a large event - an event with
many people involved
big can mean 'grown up, old
enough, mature'
- a big boy - a grown up boy, old
enough / a big-sized boy
- a large boy - a big-sized boy
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https://diffsense.com/diff/big/large
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