was largely successful / was in large successful

[englishstudent]

Hi,

in the following sentence, should it be
either "was in large successful" or "was largely successful"?

"Diderot's ambition "to change accepted habits of thought" was in largely successful."

Thank you.

[Casiopea]

Consider,

. . . in large . . . (within the realm of things considered)
. . . largely . . . (greatly)

All the best.

[englishstudent]

Casiopea, thanks for your clarification. I see the difference.
It seems the author has tried to incorporate both these in his sentence
by saying "was in largely successful". ;) It just sounded strange
since I was expecting either 'was largely successful' or
'was in large successful', but not 'was in largely successful'.

[Tdol]

It does indeed sound strange.