gran ciudad
/ɡɾan θjudad/from spelling rules
Great city in Spanish is gran ciudad.
Which one should you use?
Putting gran before the noun stresses the importance or quality of the city, while putting the full adjective after the noun stresses its physical size.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word for great is shortened from grande to gran before a singular noun. In the plural it goes back to the full form, giving grandes ciudades.
How do you pronounce it?
It is pronounced /ɡɾan θjudad/ in Spain, where the c sounds like the th in thin.
Did you know?
- The shortened form gran is part of a small group of 'apocopic' words in Spanish. Other examples include san for saint and primer for first.
- While gran ciudad refers to a city, the root of ciudad is the same as ciudadano, meaning 'citizen'. In Spanish, the concept of the city is fundamentally tied to the people who inhabit it.
- The spelling of ciudad has evolved significantly from the Old Spanish 'cibdat', showing how the 'b' and 'd' sounds shifted over centuries.
Examples in context
- Madrid es una gran ciudad.Madrid is a great city.
- Barcelona es una ciudad magnífica.Barcelona is a great city.
- Buenos Aires es una ciudad genial.Buenos Aires is a great city.
- Río de Janeiro es una ciudad increíble.Río de Janeiro is an incredible city.
- Santiago de Chile es una ciudad maravillosa.Santiago de Chile is a great city.
- Valencia es una ciudad impresionante.Valencia is a great city.
- Vives en una gran ciudad.You live in a great city.
- Busco una gran ciudad para vivir.I am looking for a great city to live in.
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are talking about their recent trip to Mexico City.
- DanielEs una gran ciudad, ¿verdad?It is a great city, right?
- LucíaSí, es una gran ciudad.Yes, it is a great city.
- DanielMe encanta su energía.I love its energy.
- LucíaA mí también.Me too.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ciudad, gran, CC BY-SA 4.0.
