More "Big" Words

The London Skyline. On the right is the clock tower in the Palace of Westminster. The bell, and sometimes the whole clock tower, is called "Big Ben." (Image Credit)

Hello, and welcome to Word Wednesday! On Monday we talked about the difference between tall and high, and when we can use both of those words. So today I thought we could look at a few more words related to SIZE. Today we'll look at "big" words, and next Wednesday we'll look at "small" words.

HEIGHT

A diagram comparing the heights of some of New York's tallest and most famous buildings. (Image)

To review, as we saw on Monday, tall and high both describe height. We usually measure height (click for pronunciation) in centimeters and meters (and in inches and feet in the USA). The opposite of tall is generally short; the opposite of high can also be short, but more often is low.

Here are some examples:

"The Empire State Building is a very famous tall building in New York City. However, the new World Trade Center tower will be taller than the Empire State Building."

"I'm about 6 feet, 1 inch tall. That's around 186 centimeters. I wasn't especially short or tall as a child, although now I am taller than many people in Costa Rica."

(Giving instructions while hanging a painting): "OK, move it a little higher... higher... that's too much, move it just a little bit lower, a little bit lower...perfect!"

GENERAL SIZE

I took this picture of the Grand Canyon in January. Yep, it's big!

The most common word to describe size in English is big; its opposites are little and small. Today we'll look at "big" words, and next week we'll look at "little" words. 

Other words that mean "big" include:

-large: often used for general descriptions, but especially common with clothing

-grand or great: these two words are not as common in modern English; both of them can also mean "amazing" or "excellent," as in "The Grand Canyon" or "The Great Wall of China"

-huge, gigantic, enormous, humongous, gargantuan, massive, etc.: all of these words are extreme forms; they all describe something that's very big; click on any of the words to hear their pronunciation

Can you think of any other words to describe size? There are certainly more synonyms, but these words seem to me like the most common ones. 

Don't forget to check back next Wednesday for words related to "small" and "little"! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

The United Kingdom, Ireland, Britain, England, and Other Confusing Geography Concepts

An administrative map of the British Isles. Click here for a full-sized view.

Hello, and happy Friday! Last week we talked about confusing capitals in English-speaking countries, and I mentioned that today I'd talk about England and Ireland, since that part of the world is even more confusing. It's important for English learners to understand at least a little about that part of the world because England is obviously one of the places where the English language came from, and many resources you find online may use British English.

First, if you want to understand why these geographical and political place names are so complicated, you can check out this video (the speaker talks very quickly, but if you click here you can find a script for the video and read along):

That's obviously a lot of information and it goes very fast, even for a native speaker like me. But the point is, that part of the world is very confusing politically and geographically. The capitals aren't as confusing, though.

Road signs in Ireland, some of which are in English and Irish. (Image)

For the Republic of Ireland, the capital is Dublin, and the residents are called "Irish." The two main languages spoken there are Irish English and Irish. Many signs are written in both languages.

The United Kingdom coat of arms. It's pretty awesome that it has a unicorn! (Image)

For the United Kingdom (as the video says, the full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the capital is London. Most people there speak British English, but there are some people who speak Scots, Welsh, and other minority languages. As the video mentions, the UK is also divided into different countries, and each of those countries has a capital. The four countries in the UK, along with their capitals, are:

England - London

Scotland - Edinburgh

Wales - Cardiff 

Northern Ireland - Belfast

The adjective for each of these places can be "British," but each country also has its own adjective, like "English," "Scottish," "Welsh," and "Northern Irish."

Here are a few examples:

"Princess Diana was Welsh, since she was from Wales."
"I often have trouble understanding some dialects of Scottish and Irish English."
"There are many differences between British and American English, but if you understand one, you can normally understand the other." (Read here and here for more information)

That's it for today! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!