In Spanish, grande means "big" or "large." The form gran is a shortened version of grande used before singular nouns and means "great" or "important." This distinction is about both meaning and grammar.
Gran
gran is used to mean "great" in a figurative sense, emphasizing importance, fame, or excellence rather than literal size. It is always placed before any singular noun (masculine or feminine). Using gran changes the meaning from simply "big" to "great" or "notable." For example, un gran hombre means "a great man" in terms of his character or achievements, not just a man of large size.
Grande
grande retains its literal meaning of "big" or "large" and is used to describe actual size. It is placed after the noun and can be used with both singular and plural nouns. When you say un hombre grande, you are literally talking about a man who is big in size, without any implied figurative meaning.
Examples
| Spanish Example |
|---|
| una gran ciudad |
| English Example |
| Usage Notes |
| gran before singular noun = "great" |
Summary
- Use gran before singular nouns when you want to convey the meaning "great" in a figurative or emphatic sense.
- Use grande after the noun when you want to keep the literal meaning of "big" or "large."
- The plural form is always grandes; there is no gran in the plural.
- The difference involves both word order and meaning: gran deals with figures of speech and emphasis, while grande deals with literal size.
This will help you use grande and gran correctly and understand the subtle shift in meaning.
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Last updated: Thu Jul 17, 2025