larger, greater, bigger

Question

Hi!Larger, greater, biggerWhat is the difference amoung these? I know greater implys to number, or something uncountable sometimes, but larger and bigger seems almost the same to me. I couldn't seem to tell when is the right time to use 'larger' instead of 'bigger', especailly when it is relating to physical size, but at the same time I noticed in some case 'bigger' cannot be applied, example would be size of animals, you say 'these are large animals', but not big. editThank you in advance!

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

I sense that large and small are in a slightly higher register than big and little. They are slightly more 'refined' words. Aside from that, large is big, big is large, small is little, and little is small! It's a matter of what nouns each goes with in the opinion of millions of English speakers -- an opinion which arises from hearing certain combinations again and again. You can very frequently substitute small for little and large for bigwith no effect, so I wouldn't worry too much over this! There's no iron-clad rule about it.

Contrary to what you say, big animals is a normal combination. Many of the dinosaurs were certainly big animals. In California there's a place called Big Bear Park.

a [big / little] [dog / cat / bear / horse / bird / fish]

Here are some combinations that I hear a lot, but you'll hear the substitutes often as well:

a [big / little] [boy / girl / sandwich / bowl / glass / spoon / car]

Clothing sizes are normally large and small. Other product sizes are also usually marked large or small.

Does this [shirt / coat / blouse / dress / jacket] come in ['large' / 'small' / a larger size / a smaller size]?
I need three large eggs for this recipe.
Get me a small box of detergent.

But as for how clothes fit:

That [shirt / coat / blouse / dress / jacket] is too [big / small] on you.

The list is endless, so it will require listening and reading to pick up the usual combinations.

CJ

Terr3 · Answer

Hi CalifJim!

Thanks a lot! So the keywords are 'large' is bigger than 'big'. I think this resolve some of the mystery I had over time on this matter. For e.g., "He's a big guy" but was never "He's a large guy", that make sense because no matter how big a man is, he couldn't appear in size of a house or an elephant, this also applys to cars, you say "this is a big car", but never "this is a large car".

Since this matter is case depending, please correct these if I have make mistake.

-The basketball player scored big in this game.
*'big' only but never 'large' or 'great' for unknown reason*

-A large amount of light has penetrated through tree leaves. (correct)
-A great amount of light has penetrated through tree leaves. (correct)
concluding that 'large' and 'great' are interchangeble but not 'big' when it come to indicating math or quatity

-A big success (correct)
-A large success (wrong)
-A great success (correct)

concluding that 'great' and 'big' couyld be interchangeble when objective has no physical scale

-It's no big deal (correct)
-It's no great deal (wrong)
-It's no large deal (wrong)
-He has suffered a great deal of stress(correct)
-He has suffered a large deal of stress(wrong)
-He has suffered a big deal of stress (correct)

concluding that since 'deal' is a unit without physcal scale, 'great' and 'big' is interchangeble, except for the case of 'big deal', I think 'big deal' was make wrong grammar to highlight the sacarstic tone

-He is a big guy (correct)
-He is a great guy (correct but yielded a different meaning)
concluding that 'great' could only has equal meaning to 'big' when it comes to quantity, outside that the meaning is 'good' instead

Also concluding that 'large' and 'big' are interchangeble at any object with a physcal size

again please add or decline if any of these conclusions is wrong. Thank you in advance- Terr

CalifJim · Answer

You wrote:

'large' is bigger than 'big'

This is not true.You have not understood what I wrote, quoted again below.

I sense that large and small are in a slightly higher register than big and little. They are slightly more 'refined' words.

When we say "slightly higher register", we are referring to the social context in which we use the words -- not the meaning of the words. If you speak with the president of a country you will probably use "high register", for example.
_____________

-The basketball player scored big in this game.
*'big' only but never 'large' or 'great' for unknown reason* OK

-A large amount of light has penetrated through tree leaves. (correct)
-A great amount of light has penetrated through tree leaves. (correct)
concluding that 'large' and 'great' are interchangeble but not 'big' when it come to indicating math or quatity OK

-A big success (correct)
-A large success (wrong)
-A great success (correct)

concluding that 'great' and 'big' couyld be interchangeble when objective has no physical scale OK

-It's no big deal (correct)
-It's no great deal (wrong)
-It's no large deal (wrong)
-He has suffered a great deal of stress(correct)
-He has suffered a large deal of stress(wrong)
-He has suffered a big deal of stress (correct) No. Only great deal of ...

concluding that since 'deal' is a unit without physcal scale, 'great' and 'big' is interchangeble, except for the case of 'big deal', I think 'big deal' was make wrong grammar to highlight the sacarstic tone

-He is a big guy (correct)
-He is a great guy (correct but yielded a different meaning)
concluding that 'great' could only has equal meaning to 'big' when it comes to quantity, outside that the meaning is 'good' instead OK

Also concluding that 'large' and 'big' are interchangeble at any object with a physcal size
Being a native speaker I've never had to consider it in such detail, so I think we may have to accept this provisionally. There always seem to be counterexamples in English.

CJ

Terr3 · Answer

Hi CalifJim!

I see so I took the wrong keywords, and it should be "refined", 'big' is mostly being used for social/verbel occasion. Thanks for approving most of my conclusion! -Terr

larger, greater, bigger

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