large and big

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I have four questions to ask:

No.1 I found the examples in the dictionary:

a. They've got a big house in the country.
b. She has blonde hair and big blue eyes.
c. a large house

It seems 'big' and 'large' are interchangeable. But since these are two words, there must be some difference between two. Could you please explain the differences?

No.2
I have seen three ways of writing mush mouth. One is in the new-word list: mushmouth. The other is in the text: ...the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind. I think this is wrong. There shouldn't be a '-'. But how to correct it? mushmouth or mush mounth? I ask the question because I surffed the internet and all the examples are written as mush mouth.

No.3
She glared at this young doctor so ill informed about Guy Fawkes' failed scheme.
Since we say 'well-informed' I think it should be written this way: ..... so ill-informed about.... Is that right?

No.4
The ferocity had been turning to a rage against the weakness, the boredom, and the absence of love that too much age had brought her.
I guess the later part of the sentence means ' because she was too old she lost some love'. Does it mean when she got old her children must have grown up and they left her or too busy to take care of her?




Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Jiang

[vijayjakhar]

large and big are not interchangeable.....

large refers to a 3-D space both height and length and breadth matters.....
as in earth has the largest surface area ....here again when we compare the planets its in terms of surface area so its largest.

mittals' have the biggest house in the world....it refers to the height...and largest house again would be to signify the covered surface and height......

if still not clear revert to me .....

Regard Vijay

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,

I have four questions to ask:

No.1 I found the examples in the dictionary:

a. They've got a big house in the country.
b. She has blonde hair and big blue eyes.
c. a large house

It seems 'big' and 'large' are interchangeable. But since these are two words, there must be some difference between two. Could you please explain the differences?

No.2
I have seen three ways of writing mush mouth. One is in the new-word list: mushmouth. The other is in the text: ...the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind. I think this is wrong. There shouldn't be a '-'. But how to correct it? mushmouth or mush mounth? I ask the question because I surffed the internet and all the examples are written as mush mouth.

No.3
She glared at this young doctor so ill informed about Guy Fawkes' failed scheme.
Since we say 'well-informed' I think it should be written this way: ..... so ill-informed about.... Is that right?

No.4
The ferocity had been turning to a rage against the weakness, the boredom, and the absence of love that too much age had brought her.
I guess the later part of the sentence means ' because she was too old she lost some love'. Does it mean when she got old her children must have grown up and they left her or too busy to take care of her?




Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Jiang

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,

I have four questions to ask:

No.1 I found the examples in the dictionary:

a. They've got a big house in the country.
b. She has blonde hair and big blue eyes.
c. a large house

It seems 'big' and 'large' are interchangeable. But since these are two words, there must be some difference between two. Could you please explain the differences?

No.2
I have seen three ways of writing mush mouth. One is in the new-word list: mushmouth. The other is in the text: ...the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind. I think this is wrong. There shouldn't be a '-'. But how to correct it? mushmouth or mush mounth? I ask the question because I surffed the internet and all the examples are written as mush mouth.

No.3
She glared at this young doctor so ill informed about Guy Fawkes' failed scheme.
Since we say 'well-informed' I think it should be written this way: ..... so ill-informed about.... Is that right?

No.4
The ferocity had been turning to a rage against the weakness, the boredom, and the absence of love that too much age had brought her.
I guess the later part of the sentence means ' because she was too old she lost some love'. Does it mean when she got old her children must have grown up and they left her or too busy to take care of her?




Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Jiang

1. Big and large are not exactly the same. When they refer to physical size they are relatively interchangeable. For example, a big house and large house are the same. One is not particularly reserved for height. When we get to metaphorical size, "big" develops more meanings than "large" has. A big man can be large in size or importance; a large man is just large in size.
Why we have two words is because of the way English developed. "Large comes from Latin through French. Big probably comes from Scandanavian.

2. Dictionaries list "mushmouth" and "mush-mouth". Both are correct, but once the hyphen starts to go, it usually disappears quickly.

3. Usually you will see "ill-informed" no matter how it is used. "Well informed" is different. We usually only hyphenate words with "well" in a compound adjective if it immediately precedes a noun. "Ill" is treated differently, probably because that use of "ill" is less common.

His opinion were well informed.
He had a variety of well-informed opinions.

4. It may have been that and/or the death of her close friends, her spouse, etc.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I understand most of them.

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

1. Big and large are not exactly the same. When they refer to physical size they are relatively interchangeable. For example, a big house and large house are the same. One is not particularly reserved for height. When we get to metaphorical size, "big" develops more meanings than "large" has. A big man can be large in size or importance; a large man is just large in size.
Why we have two words is because of the way English developed. "Large comes from Latin through French. Big probably comes from Scandanavian.

I understand this.

& 2. Dictionaries list "mushmouth" and "mush-mouth". Both are correct, but once the hyphen starts to go, it usually disappears quickly.
I am sorry I don't understand this part "but once the hyphen starts to go, it usually disappears quickly. "
3. Usually you will see "ill-informed" no matter how it is used. "Well informed" is different. We usually only hyphenate words with "well" in a compound adjective if it immediately precedes a noun. "Ill" is treated differently, probably because that use of "ill" is less common.
Could you please explain if you meant I should add a hyphen in the sentence:
She glared at this young doctore so ill-informed about ....

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

His opinion were well informed.
He had a variety of well-informed opinions.

4. It may have been that and/or the death of her close friends, her spouse, etc.

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your help.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Originally Posted by vijayjakhar

large and big are not interchangeable.....

large refers to a 3-D space both height and length and breadth matters.....
as in earth has the largest surface area ....here again when we compare the planets its in terms of surface area so its largest.

mittals' have the biggest house in the world....it refers to the height...and largest house again would be to signify the covered surface and height......

if still not clear revert to me .....

Regard Vijay

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I understand most of them.

When two distinct words are used together to create a unique meaning, they will often go through a process of sealing together. The first step is just a collocation:

baby sitter

Then there often comes a intermediate stage - hyphenation:

baby-sitter

Then they often turn into one word:

babysitter

For some time, both the hyphenated word and the one word forms coexist and are accepted by dictionaries. Eventually, the hyphen disappears from these compounds. Such seems to be the case with "mushmouth".

Yes, I am saying that you should hyphenate "ill-informed". If you don't your reader will stumble on the "doctor so ill" part and think the doctor is sick.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.
Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

When two distinct words are used together to create a unique meaning, they will often go through a process of sealing together. The first step is just a collocation:

baby sitter

Then there often comes a intermediate stage - hyphenation:

baby-sitter

Then they often turn into one word:

babysitter

For some time, both the hyphenated word and the one word forms cooexist and are accepted by dictionaries. Eventually, the hyphen disappears from these compounds. Such seems to be the case with "mushmouth".

Yes, I am saying that you should hyphenate "ill-informed". If you don't your reader will stumble on the "doctor so ill" part and think the doctor is sick.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.
Jiang

You're welcome, Jiang.