Today’s Spanish word of the day is “grande”.
It’s an adjective meaning “big” or “large”.
As you probably know, the standard way to use adjectives in Spanish is after the noun, for example “una casa grande” means “a big house”. However, it’s often also possible to use an adjective before a noun, though this can change the meaning a bit. If you do this with the adjective “grande”, the word drops the final -de, becoming “gran”, and usually acquires the meaning of “great”. Therefore, “una gran casa” would translate as “a great house”.
The word “grande” comes from Latin grandis, meaning “big”, “great” or “full”. This is also the root of several English words, including “grand”, “grandiose” and “aggrandize”.
Example sentences
El perro de mi vecino es muy grande pero amigable.
My neighbor’s dog is very big but friendly.
Tiene un gran talento para tocar el piano.
He/She has great talent for playing the piano.
Compramos un cuadro grande para colgarlo en la pared principal.
We bought a big painting to hang on the main wall.
El árbol más grande del bosque se cayó durante la tormenta.
The largest tree in the forest fell during the storm.
El problema no es tan grande como parece a primera vista.
The problem is not as big as it seems at first glance.
