Grande vs Gran
In Spanish,grandemeans "big" or "large." The formgranis a shortened version ofgrandeusedbefore singular nounsand means "great" or "important." This distinction is about bothmeaningandgrammar.
Gran
granis used to mean "great" in a figurative sense, emphasizing importance, fame, or excellence rather than literal size. It is always placed beforeany singular noun(masculine or feminine). Usinggranchanges the meaning from simply "big" to "great" or "notable." For example,un gran hombremeans "a great man" in terms of his character or achievements, not just a man of large size.
Grande
granderetains its literal meaning of "big" or "large" and is used to describe actual size. It is placedafter the nounand can be used with both singular and plural nouns. When you sayun hombre grande, you are literally talking about a man who is big in size, without any implied figurative meaning.
Examples
Summary
- Usegranbeforesingular nounswhen you want to convey the meaning "great" in a figurative or emphatic sense.
- Usegrandeafter the noun when you want to keep the literal meaning of "big" or "large."
- The plural form is alwaysgrandes; there is nogranin the plural.
- The difference involves bothword orderandmeaning:grandeals with figures of speech and emphasis, whilegrandedeals with literal size.
This will help you usegrandeandgrancorrectly and understand the subtle shift in meaning.
Get Started
Track your progress, chat with the AI, access more exercises.
Last updated: Thu Jul 17, 2025