'Big' can mean 'important', for example: 'Buying a house is a very big decision'.
It can also be used in informal situations to mean 'older', for example: 'He's my big brother'... as well as 'successful' or 'powerful', for example: 'York is a big tourist destination'.
Also in informal situations, we can use 'big' to mean 'doing something to a large degree', for example: 'She earns a lot of money, but she's also a big spender' - OR... 'I'm a big fan of yours'.
'Big' is used in a lot of fixed phrases, and because these phrases are fixed, to change 'big 'to 'large' would sound wrong. Examples of fixed phrases using 'big' include: 'It's no big deal' - it's not really important. 'I have big ideas for this house' - impressive plans for the future. 'She's a big mouth' - a person who can't be trusted to keep a secret. 'He's too big for his boots' - too proud of himself.
There are also some fixed phrases using 'large'. Examples include: 'The prisoners are at large' - they have escaped and may cause harm. 'She's larger than life' - more exciting or amusing than most people.
Finally, quantity words.... 'large', more often than 'big', is used with the following quantity words: 'a large amount', 'on a large scale', 'a large number of', 'a large quantity of', 'a large proportion', 'to a large extent', 'a large percentage of', 'a large part of', 'a large volume' and 'a large area'.
British English vs American English
There are many well-known differences between British and American English, but these differences won't cause you any serious problems if you work in Britain.
First, there are a few noticeable GRAMMAR differences between British and American English: I'll talk about the two most important ones.
First of all, when Americans make sentences using 'just', 'already' or 'yet', they normally use the past simple tense, while in Britain, we use the present perfect.
So an American, for example, might say:
"I already had lunch." "She didn't arrive yet."
And a British person would say:
"I've already had lunch." - That's "I have already had lunch." Or... "She hasn't arrived yet."
Also, in Britain we often use 'have got' or 'has got' when we talk about possession, while Americans generally just use 'have' or 'has'.
So, for example, in American English we might say: "I have a new car." In British English it's more normal to say: "I've got a new car."
The meaning's the same, there's just a small grammatical difference that you might notice.
There are these and a few other very small differences, but to be honest, these differences almost never make it difficult for us to understand each other.
On the other hand, the differences in VOCABULARY between American English and British English are stronger than the grammatical differences, but again, these very rarely cause serious problems.
A lot of the words which are different are informal or slang words...
For example, I think many Americans would be unfamiliar with the British slang word 'naff', which means 'un-cool' or 'poor-quality'.
On the other hand, a Brit (a British person) might be very confused by a sentence like: "The café is kitty-corner to the pharmacy." This means that the café is diagonally opposite to the pharmacy, but we don't have the word 'kitty-corner' in British English.
Another example would be telling the time... If we want to describe 2:45 in Britain, we might say: "Quarter to three", or 3:15 would be "Quarter past three".
On the other hand, in America, these might be: "Quarter of three" for 2:45, or "Quarter after three" for 3:15.
It's another small difference, but it's one that's not going to cause serious problems - it's quite easy to get used to.
There are also some differences in SPELLING which I should mention. One example of this is the verb 'to practise': In British English, this is spelt with an 'S', so that's P-R-A-C-T-I-S-E. In American English, it's spelt with two 'C's, so in American English it's P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E.
And there are lots of other examples of slight difference of spelling, but about 99% of the time, British and American people can understand each other without any trouble at all. In Britain we watch lots of American films and TV programs, and we listen to lots of American music, so American English is generally very familiar to us.
This is probably not quite so true for an American coming to Britain. Americans, I think, don't watch quite so much British TV or British movies.
I should also point out that regional English can be an important thing to think about. Not everyone in Britain talks like James Bond. There are some regional accents in Britain which you don't hear so often in the movies, and these might be a bit more difficult to get used to.
However, I'd like to finish by saying that many, many Americans live and work in Britain, and they don't have any serious language problems at all.
First, there are a few noticeable GRAMMAR differences between British and American English: I'll talk about the two most important ones.
First of all, when Americans make sentences using 'just', 'already' or 'yet', they normally use the past simple tense, while in Britain, we use the present perfect.
So an American, for example, might say:
"I already had lunch." "She didn't arrive yet."
And a British person would say:
"I've already had lunch." - That's "I have already had lunch." Or... "She hasn't arrived yet."
Also, in Britain we often use 'have got' or 'has got' when we talk about possession, while Americans generally just use 'have' or 'has'.
So, for example, in American English we might say: "I have a new car." In British English it's more normal to say: "I've got a new car."
The meaning's the same, there's just a small grammatical difference that you might notice.
There are these and a few other very small differences, but to be honest, these differences almost never make it difficult for us to understand each other.
On the other hand, the differences in VOCABULARY between American English and British English are stronger than the grammatical differences, but again, these very rarely cause serious problems.
A lot of the words which are different are informal or slang words...
For example, I think many Americans would be unfamiliar with the British slang word 'naff', which means 'un-cool' or 'poor-quality'.
On the other hand, a Brit (a British person) might be very confused by a sentence like: "The café is kitty-corner to the pharmacy." This means that the café is diagonally opposite to the pharmacy, but we don't have the word 'kitty-corner' in British English.
Another example would be telling the time... If we want to describe 2:45 in Britain, we might say: "Quarter to three", or 3:15 would be "Quarter past three".
On the other hand, in America, these might be: "Quarter of three" for 2:45, or "Quarter after three" for 3:15.
It's another small difference, but it's one that's not going to cause serious problems - it's quite easy to get used to.
There are also some differences in SPELLING which I should mention. One example of this is the verb 'to practise': In British English, this is spelt with an 'S', so that's P-R-A-C-T-I-S-E. In American English, it's spelt with two 'C's, so in American English it's P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E.
And there are lots of other examples of slight difference of spelling, but about 99% of the time, British and American people can understand each other without any trouble at all. In Britain we watch lots of American films and TV programs, and we listen to lots of American music, so American English is generally very familiar to us.
This is probably not quite so true for an American coming to Britain. Americans, I think, don't watch quite so much British TV or British movies.
I should also point out that regional English can be an important thing to think about. Not everyone in Britain talks like James Bond. There are some regional accents in Britain which you don't hear so often in the movies, and these might be a bit more difficult to get used to.
However, I'd like to finish by saying that many, many Americans live and work in Britain, and they don't have any serious language problems at all.
Verbs
VERBS
A verb is a grammatical class of word. They are sometimes called 'doing words' though this does not really fit all verbs.
Verbs have different forms. There is the infinitive form, which is the verb in its basic state. For example - 'run'. This is sometimes called the 'bare/base infinitive' or the 'infinitive without to'.
Another form of the infinitive is the 'full infinitive' or the 'infinitive with to'. For example 'to run'.
Verbs can be made into nouns by adding 'ing'. These types of nouns are called gerunds. For example in the sentence "I like running" the word "running" is a gerund.
Verbs also have another form which looks identical to the gerund which is called the present participle form. For example in the sentence "He was running around the track when a dog tripped him up" the word "running" is the present participle form of the verb 'to run'.
The past form of a verb is used in the tense the past simple. For example in the sentence "I ran down the street but still missed the bus" the word "ran" is the past form of the verb 'to run'.
The past participle form of a verb is used to make different verb structures such as the present perfect. For example, in the sentence "I've run every day since I was 23" the word "run" is the past participle form of the verb 'to run'.
TENSES
Tenses are grammatical structures using verbs. English has only two tenses, the present simple and the past simple. However English does have other forms which use verbs. For example the perfect and continuous forms. These are not actually tenses though they are often described as such.
A verb is a grammatical class of word. They are sometimes called 'doing words' though this does not really fit all verbs.
Verbs have different forms. There is the infinitive form, which is the verb in its basic state. For example - 'run'. This is sometimes called the 'bare/base infinitive' or the 'infinitive without to'.
Another form of the infinitive is the 'full infinitive' or the 'infinitive with to'. For example 'to run'.
Verbs can be made into nouns by adding 'ing'. These types of nouns are called gerunds. For example in the sentence "I like running" the word "running" is a gerund.
Verbs also have another form which looks identical to the gerund which is called the present participle form. For example in the sentence "He was running around the track when a dog tripped him up" the word "running" is the present participle form of the verb 'to run'.
The past form of a verb is used in the tense the past simple. For example in the sentence "I ran down the street but still missed the bus" the word "ran" is the past form of the verb 'to run'.
The past participle form of a verb is used to make different verb structures such as the present perfect. For example, in the sentence "I've run every day since I was 23" the word "run" is the past participle form of the verb 'to run'.
TENSES
Tenses are grammatical structures using verbs. English has only two tenses, the present simple and the past simple. However English does have other forms which use verbs. For example the perfect and continuous forms. These are not actually tenses though they are often described as such.
SUBJECT AGREEMENT
Which one is correct ?
His biggest problem is his inaccuracies.
His biggest problem are his inaccuracies."
The main actor or subject of the sentence is 'his biggest problem', and this is singular. So the verb in the sentence should agree with the subject. The second actor, the object, is the plural term 'his inaccuracies', but the verb doesn't need to agree with this.
So it's all a question of agreement. In English, the normal word order is subject, verb, object.
My cat (subject) climbs (verb) trees (object)
The verb should agree with the subject, not the object. So cat and climb are agreeing - my cat climbs. But even first language users of English sometimes have a problem when the sentence has more than one clause - and here's an example.
My mother , but not her friends, is coming to dinner. We might be tempted to say are coming to dinner. But you don't have to because the verb should agree with my mother . The not her friends section is just additional information.
Which one is correct ?
His biggest problem is his inaccuracies.
His biggest problem are his inaccuracies."
The main actor or subject of the sentence is 'his biggest problem', and this is singular. So the verb in the sentence should agree with the subject. The second actor, the object, is the plural term 'his inaccuracies', but the verb doesn't need to agree with this.
So it's all a question of agreement. In English, the normal word order is subject, verb, object.
My cat (subject) climbs (verb) trees (object)
The verb should agree with the subject, not the object. So cat and climb are agreeing - my cat climbs. But even first language users of English sometimes have a problem when the sentence has more than one clause - and here's an example.
My mother , but not her friends, is coming to dinner. We might be tempted to say are coming to dinner. But you don't have to because the verb should agree with my mother . The not her friends section is just additional information.
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