Meaning of 大
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- big; large; great
- older (than another person)
- eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3])
- greatly; freely; fully
- (dialect) father
- (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
- see 大夫[dai4 fu5]
How to use 大
大 describes size, age, and importance, and it appears in many everyday words like 大学 (dàxué, university) and 大家 (dàjiā, everyone). It also compares age: 他比我大 (tā bǐ wǒ dà) means "He is older than me."
大 (dà) looks like a person standing with arms stretched wide, as if showing how big something is. Picture someone saying "it was this big" and you have the meaning.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 大 (dà, big) with 太 (tài, too), which has an extra dot, and 天 (tiān, sky), which has an extra line on top. Also remember that in 大夫 (dàifu, doctor) it is read dài, not dà.
大 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
大 dà · big · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 大.
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice |
| 大量 | dàliàng | great amount; large quantity |
| 大多数 | dàduōshù | (great) majority |
| 大海 | dàhǎi | sea; ocean |
| 大门 | dàmén | entrance; door |
Questions about 大
What does 大 mean?
大 (dà) means "big; large; great; older (than another person)" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 大?
大 is made of 1 character: 大 (3 strokes). That is 3 strokes in total.
Is 大 an HSK word?
Yes. 大 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you ask someone's age using 大?
Say 你多大？(nǐ duō dà?), which means "How old are you?" It is used for adults and teens. For small children people usually ask 你几岁？(nǐ jǐ suì?).
What does 不大 mean?
不大 (bù dà) can mean "not big," but it often means "not very" or "not often." For example, 我不大舒服 (wǒ bù dà shūfu) means "I don't feel very well."