big、large 及 great 均用於說明大小,都用在可數名詞前。只有 great 可用在不可數名詞之前。
big 通常用於談話中。
"Where?" ─ "Over there, by that big tree."
“在哪裏?”──“那邊,那棵大樹旁。”
Ellen had a big bag of eggs.
埃倫有一大袋蛋。
large 比 big 正式。
Except in large cities, specialist bookshops for children's literature are few.
除了在大城市外,兒童文學書店很少見。
Countries which are planning to build medium-sized and/or large wind turbines over the next few years include France and
Holland.
今後幾年內計劃建造中型和∕或大型風輪機的國家有法國和荷蘭。
表示某事物很重要或給人深刻印象可用 big,不用 large。
Chicago is to him the Big Town.
芝加哥在他的眼裏是個大城市。
...his influence over the big advertisers.
……他對大廣告商的影響。
通常用 great 強調某人或某事很偉大。
...the great English master of classical architecture, Inigo Jones.
……偉大的英國古典建築學派大師,艾尼戈‧瓊斯。
然而,great 也可用於強調規模之大或印象之深。
...the beach of a great curving bay in the west of England.
……英國西部,一個巨大的弧形海灣的海灘。
Gardens lay wasted in order that great office blocks and car parks might take their place.
花園任其荒蕪,巨型辦公樓和停車場得以取而代之。
big 和 great 均可用於強調事物的強度,但在正式的文體中最好用 great。
You must find this a big change from the Navy, Mr Rutland.
你一定會發現這與海軍很不相同,拉脫倫先生。
Most of them act like big fools.
他們大多數人都像大傻瓜。
He switched from one task to another with great difficulty.
他十分艱難地從一項工作轉換到另一項工作。
Effective analysis and recognized techniques can bring about a great improvement.
有效的分析以及公認的技術能夠帶來極大改進。
描述數量大小可用 large 或 great,但不能用 big。
She made a very large amount of money.
她賺了很多錢。
...drugs taken in large quantities.
……大劑量服用的藥。
Young people consume great quantities of chips.
年青人吃大量的油炸薯條。