grande
big, great
A cognate of 'grand' covering size, importance, and intensity
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
grand
big, impressive
+
-e
adjective suffix
Grande means big or great and is related to the English word grand0, since something grand is big and impressive.
grande
big, large (size)
Something that exceeds the normal size.
- Pedí una pizza grande = I ordered a large pizza
- Vivimos en una casa muy grande = We live in a very big house
too big (too big)
When something is big on a person, it doesn't fit.
- Esa chaqueta te queda grande = That jacket is too big for you
tall (height)
When someone is big, they are literally tall.
- Tu hijo está muy grande = Your son is really tall
old, big, grown-up (age)
Getting big and growing up means getting older.
- Ya eres grande, puedes hacerlo solo = You're big now, you can do it yourself
- Mi abuela ya está grande = My grandmother is old now
great, big (importance or intensity)
Something grand is impressive and significant.
- Es un gran honor para mí = It's a great honor for me
- Sentí una gran alegría = I felt great joy
los grandes
the grown-ups, the adults (adults),
the greats, the big names (top figures)
The big ones — either adults compared to children, or the top figures in a field.
- Hay una mesa para los grandes y otra para los niños = There's a table for the grown-ups and another for the kids
- Nadal es uno de los grandes del tenis = Nadal is one of the greats of tennis