grande
/ˈɡɾande/
grande is the Spanish word for big.
grande is the most common word for big. While it primarily describes physical size, depending on the context, it can also mean "great" in terms of importance or quality. Other ways to express various degrees of bigness include enorme for enormous or huge, colosal for something extremely big or colossal and the prefix mega- to describe something extremely big. For describing landscapes, expanses or territories, vasto is often used. If you want to describe something as both big and spacious, use amplio.
Meaning: of a great size (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective grande changes to grandes in its plural form to match plural nouns. Additionally, the word shortens to gran when placed immediately before a singular countable noun.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈɡɾande/
Did you know?
- The word gran and grande actually change the meaning of a noun. While un hombre grande refers to a man's physical size, un gran hombre refers to a man's character or importance.
- In some contexts, the phrase hacerse el grande is used idiomatically to describe someone who is acting arrogant or pretending to be more important than they are.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, saying qué grande to a person is not a comment on their physical size, but a way to express admiration for their talent or kindness.
Examples in context
- El sol es grande.The sun is big.This sentence shows how to use grande to describe the sun.Tatoeba #1715747 by marcelostockle, translation #1120802 by cntrational
- El oso es grande.The bear is big.This sentence shows how to use grande to describe a bear.Tatoeba #3487911 by hantol01, translation #3487903 by Ricardo14
- Tu casa es grande.Your house is big.This sentence shows how to use grande to describe a house.Tatoeba #602554 by Shishir, translation #602534 by CK
- una casa grandeA big house
- un proyecto grandeA big project
- un salón amplioA big living room
- una camisa de talla ampliaA big-sized shirt
- una llanura vastaA vast plain
- una estatua colosalA colossal statue
- un éxito colosalA colossal success
- un pastel giganteA big cake
- una sorpresa giganteA big surprise
- un concierto tremendoA big concert
- una fiesta tremendaA big party
- una montaña enormeA big mountain
- un esfuerzo enormeA big effort
- una hamburguesa mega grandeA mega big burger
- 479 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
María and Alejandro are looking at a new suitcase.
- MaríaEsta maleta es muy grande.This suitcase is very big.
- AlejandroSí, pero necesitamos mucho espacio.Yes, but we need a lot of space.
- MaríaCreo que es demasiado grande.I think it is too big.
- AlejandroBusquemos una más pequeña, María.Let's look for a smaller one, María.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “big” translations and entries grande, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
