Page 57 - Basic English Usage

65
57
65 big, large, great and tall

We use big mostly in an informal style.
We've got a big new house.
Get your big feet off my flowers.
That's a really big improvement.
You're making a big mistake.
In amore formal style, we prefer /arge or great.
Large is used with concrete nouns (the names of things you can see,
touch, etc).
Great is used with abstract nouns (the names of ideas etc).
lt was a large house, situated near the river.
I'm afraid my daughter has rather large feet.
Her work showed a great improvement last year.
With uncountable nouns, only great is possible.
There was great confusion about the dates.
(NOT ... big-eenfusien...
| felt great excitement as the meeting came nearer.

Tallis used to talk about vertical height (from top to bottom). It is mostly
used for people; sometimes for buildings and trees. (See also 339: tall
and high.)
‘How tall are you?’ ‘One metre ninety-one.’

ataiman a big man

We also use great to mean ‘famous’ or ‘important’.
Do you think Napoleon was really a great man?
Newton was probably the greatest scientist who ever lived.

We sometimes use great to mean ‘wonderful’ (very informal).
I've had a great idea!
‘How's the new job?’ ‘Great.’
It's a great car.

Note that /arge is a ‘false friend’ for people who speak some European
languages. It does not mean the same as wide.
The river is a hundred metres wide. (NOT .. . metrestarge.)