Chinese word

大

Pronunciation

Pinyindà

Meaning

  • adjectivebig

Example

这个箱子很大，装不下这么多东西。zhè ge xiāng zi hěn dà zhuāng bú xià zhè me duō dōng xī

This box is very big, so it cannot hold this much stuff.

Illustration for 大 (big)

More examples

那张桌子太大了，搬不动。nà zhāng zhuō zi tài dà le bān bú dòng

That table is too big to move.

Core concept

A person or thing that takes up more space or reaches a higher degree than usual.

Common phrases

  • 很大hěn dà

    very big

  • 太大了tài dà le

    too big

  • 大声dà shēng

    loud voice

Similar words

小xiǎo: Describes something that is small in physical size and takes up little space.
高gāo: Describes something that has considerable vertical height.
长zhǎng: Describes something that has considerable length from one end to the other.
短duǎn: Describes something that has little length from one end to the other.

Definition in Chinese

与一般事物相比尺寸或程度明显更大，常用于描述物体大小、范围或强度。yǔ yì bān shì wù xiāng bǐ chǐ cùn huò chéng dù míng xiǎn gèng dà cháng yòng yú miáo shù wù tǐ dà xiǎo fàn wéi huò qiáng dù

Word origin

The character 大 (dà, "big") comes from an ancient picture of a person stretching out the limbs, which makes its meaning easy to connect with greater size or degree.

Usage tips

  • When 大 (dà, "big") comes before a noun, it describes that noun, while a sentence about size commonly uses 很 (hěn, "quite") before the adjective.

Opposites

Word lists with this word