Assignment 4: Use the concordance tools to answer the question

Question: Is there any rule governing the use of "big" and "large"? If yes, what is it? Use evidences to explain the major difference between the two words. Please limit your answer to 70 words.


First,the following are definitions of big and large I found in Macmillan Dictionary.

definition of big:

1.large in size

e.g.He kept all his secret papers in a big box.

2.large in degree, or having a strong effect

e.g.The concerts have been a big success.

3.important or major

e.g.I had never been involved in making the big decisions before.

definition of large:

1.bigger than usual in size

e.g.The house had an exceptionally large yard.

2.bigger than usual in number or amount

e.g.They had lent large sums of money to two companies in Northern Ireland.

Then I use TOTALrecall to find the differences between big and large through sentences.

Here I list several sentences from TOTALrecall.

1.First, this business wouldn't require a large initial investment.(def.2 of large)
2.If this be the case, how can they be imported in such large volume?(def.2 of large)
3.How do you keep the large amount of material you have collected in order?(def.2 of large)

1.Widespread lack of concern is another big problem.(def.2 of big)

2.But remember also that today's his tory was once big news.(def.3 of big)

3.Big Banyan trees, tall and shady, make people feel very cool.(def.1 of big)

I also try WEBCALL, I found the top 5 of "large" which are frequently used,they are:

number 12617

amount 4316

part 3514

city 2912

scale 2135

Afeter reading information above,we can see that "large" is usually used by describing one object's size or describing one thing in number or amount.
I think this statement can be proofed by the evidence from WEBCALL.

And "big" not only be used by describing object's size but also describing how important the thing can be.
e.g. I had never been involved in making the big decisions before.

Also,"big" can sometimes be used in describing that one thing has a strong effect.
e.g.The concerts have been a big success.

Combine the comparison above,I can conclude that

Large: Descibe the practical thing's size in amount or number.

Big: In addition to describing practical thing's size,it can also describes other meanings about the impractical things.