Large, To make (Correction)

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Could anybody explain to me the differences and usages of : - Large, great, big ..
Which one must be used in an abstract meaning (Great ?) : F.E. "a great = joy"
?
- To make and to do ..
I understood that to make has a more concrete meaning unlike to do = which
has a more abstract meaning.
Is it a big mistake to use one of them instead of the other ? Thanks

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Claude Brunet
Toulon France
http://perso.club-internet.fr/clbrunet
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Usenet · Accepted Answer

Claude Brunet:
[nq:1]Could anybody explain to me the differences and usages of : - Large, great, big ..[/nq]
# GREAT, BIG, LARGE refer to size, extent, and degree. BIG is the # most general and most colloquial word, LARGE is somewhat more # formal, and GREAT is highly formal and even poetic, suggesting # also that the object is notable or imposing: "a big tree"; "a # large tree"; "a great oak"; "a big field"; "a large field"; # "great plains". When the reference is to a degree or quality, # GREAT is the usual word: "great beauty"; "great mistake"; # "great surprise"; although "big" sometimes alternates with it # in colloquial style: "a big mistake"; "a big surprise". LARGE # is not used in refernce to degree, but may be used in a # quantitative reference: a "large number" ("great number").

"Great" differs the most from the other two, due to the suggestion of being "notable or imposing".
[nq:1]Which one must be used in an abstract meaning (Great ?) : F.E.[/nq]
"F.E." is wrong. Write "for example" in full or use the Latin abbreviation "e.g." instead.
[nq:1]"a great joy" ?[/nq]
Yes.
[nq:1]- To make and to do .. I understood that to make has a more concrete meaning unlike to do which has a more abstract meaning.[/nq]
I think a more precise version of the general rule is that you "make" a thing (even an abstract thing) but "do" an action. Unfortunately, this is not always helpful, because the boundary between an action and an abstract thing is sometimes unclear. "He did a little dance, his arms extended to make a circle." Dancing is an action, but circles are abstract things.
[nq:1]Is it a big mistake to use one of them instead of the other ?[/nq]
It's the kind of mistake a non-native speaker makes. (Mistake another abstract thing.) If it's the only thing you get wrong, people will understand.
Hmm, that's ironic. I have a collection of signature quotes and a little program that presents them in random order for me to select from, and after I wrote the text above, it randoly selected the signature below!

So how is that passage possible, if what I said above is correct? Easy. The explanation is that when we speak of doing the wrong thing or doing the right thing, "thing" is referring to an action it has to, because the verb was "do". It would also be possible to speak of making the right thing, and in this case "thing" would mean a concrete object.

"You're doing something there. What are you doing?" "Building a wall." "You're making something there. What are you making?" "A wall."
Mark Brader "Doing the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing." Toronto "Doing anything is worse than doing nothing!" (Email Removed) Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Usenet · Answer

>

Nonidiomatic usage is not a "big mistake."
You seem generally right abot the concrete
difference between the verbs make and do:
but this is also a generalization from the
pattern of actual use,

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
dphillipson(at)trytel.com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]<And to celebrate we're off to have it large with our mates.
John Dean
Oxford
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Large, To make (Correction)

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