そんなに大きい
sonna ni ookii
The English phrase 'so big' is translated into Japanese as そんなに大きい (sonna ni ookii).
そんなに大きい is used to describe something that is larger than expected or to a surprising degree.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of そんなに, which means 'to that extent' or 'so' when modifying an adjective and 大きい.
Which one should you use?
While そんなに大きい emphasizes a surprising degree of size, other variations change the intensity or tone. For example, とても大きい means 'very big' and 非常に大きい means 'extremely big'. You may also encounter the slang term でかい, which means 'big' or 'huge' and its informal, exaggerated variant デカい.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use 'so big' as an adverb to modify a verb instead of an adjective, change the ending to そんなに大きく.
How do you pronounce it?
sonna ni ookii
Did you know?
- While 大きい refers to general size, Japanese has a specific word 広い for 'big' when referring to area or space. Using そんなに大きい to describe a 'big' room might sound unnatural to a native speaker.
- In Japanese, the word 大きい can be used to describe a 'big' sound, such as a loud noise, whereas English uses 'loud'.
- The informal word でかい is often written in katakana as デカい to make it stand out. This visual style is frequently used in manga and anime to emphasize a character's shock at an object's size.
Examples in context
- なぜ、あなたの目はそんなに大きいの？Why are your eyes so big?This sentence uses そんなに大きい to ask about the size of eyes.Tatoeba #199294 by bunbuku, translation #36496 by CM
- なぜ、あなたの耳はそんなに大きいの？Why are your ears so big?This sentence uses そんなに大きい to ask about the size of ears.Tatoeba #199295 by bunbuku, translation #36497 by CK
- なぜ、あなたの口はそんなに大きいの？Why is your mouth so big?This sentence uses そんなに大きい to ask about the size of a mouth.Tatoeba #199296 by bunbuku, translation #36498 by CK
- この箱はとても大きいですね。This box is very big!
- この広場は非常に大きいです。This square is very big!
- 彼はとても大きい人です。He is a very big person!
Example conversation
Hinata and Hinata are looking at a giant watermelon in a shop.
- 陽葵 Himariそんなに大きいスイカ、あるの？sonna ni ookii suika, aru no?Is there really such a big watermelon?
- 陽太 Yotaうん、驚くほど大きいよね。un, odoroku hodo ookii yo ne.Yeah, it's surprisingly big, isn't it?
- 陽葵 Himari一人で運べるのかな？hitori de hakoberu no kana?I wonder if one person can carry it.
- 陽太 Yotaそれは無理だと思うよ。sore wa muri da to omou yo.I don't think that's possible.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
