AEE 2645：小与微，大与巨

这是《All Ears English》播客第2645期，讲的是 little 和 small，great 和 big 的区别。

This is an All Ears English Podcast episode twenty six forty five, little versus small and great versus big.

欢迎收听《All Ears English》播客，全球下载量已超过两亿次。

Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast downloaded more than 200,000,000 times.

你是不是觉得自己的英语进步卡住了？

Are you feeling stuck with your English?

我们会教你如何摆脱顾虑，流利表达——重点不是完美，而是真实交流。主持人是英语冒险家麦卡洪，和纽约电台女孩米歇尔·卡普兰，他们从科罗拉多和纽约为你带来节目。

We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection with your American hosts, McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.

想在手机上实时获取字幕，还能自定义词汇清单？试试《All Ears English》的iOS和安卓应用吧。

To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android.

前往 allearsenglish.com/app，免费试用七天。

Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com/app.

你是想用大话题聊点小内容，还是用小话题聊出大深度？

Are you looking for big ways to have a little discussion or little ways to have a big discussion?

今天我们就来聊聊 big、little、great、small 和 large 这几个词之间那些有趣又实用的细微差别，灵感来自一位听众的提问。

Today, learn the fun nuances between the words big, little, great, small, and large based on a really useful listener question.

今天就来学会怎么用这些词。

Learn how to use these today.

你有没有注意到，有些英语说话者讲起话来特别自然？

Have you noticed that some English speakers seem relaxed when they speak?

他们不会费劲地找词。

They don't search for words.

也不会老是打断自己纠正错误。

They don't constantly correct themselves.

他们就是很顺畅地表达出来。

They simply communicate.

这并不是因为他们说得完美无缺。

That doesn't happen because they're perfect.

而是因为他们已经培养出了流利度。

It happens because they've built fluency.

如果你说英语还是觉得特别吃力，那也许该好好看看自己现在的水平到底在哪了。

If speaking English still feels like hard work, it may be time to understand exactly where your skills stand today.

来做我们的免费两分钟流利度测试，了解你的英语水平。

Take our free two minute fluency quiz and discover your English level.

访问 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore。

Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore.

网址是 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore。

That's allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore.

嗨，米歇尔。

Hey, Michelle.

你最近怎么样？

How are you?

你最近还好吗？

How how are you?

最近还顺利吗？

How's it going?

嗨。

Hey.

我挺好的，林赛。

I'm doing well, Lindsay.

你呢？

How are you?

还不错。

Good.

米歇尔，你最近有什么安排吗？

Michelle, do you have any big plans coming up?

有什么大事要发生吗？

Anything big on the horizon?

让我想想。

Let's see.

嗯，我刚给我儿子报了打棒球的课程。

Well, I think just my we just signed my son up for playing baseball.

真不错。

Oh, nice.

所以我的生活重心慢慢变成了一位体育妈妈。

So my big plans are changing into a bit of a sports mom.

不过呢，就这一季而已。

But, you know, it's just for a season.

这是他第一次参加这项运动。

It's just the first time he's doing it.

我猜接下来我的安排都会围绕比赛之类的事情转了。

But so I'm sure a lot of my plans will revolve around, you know, games and things like that.

所以我挺期待的。

So I'm excited.

我觉得应该会很有趣。

I think I think it'll be fun.

看他打球一定特别可爱。

It'll be very cute to see him.

我感觉他妹妹也会在旁边给他加油，那真是太好了。

I have a feeling his little sister will be cheering him along and Oh, that's great.

那太好了。

That's great.

对。

Yeah.

想想就让人兴奋。

So that that's exciting.

是啊。

Yeah.

不过说到林赛，当我们谈到大计划时，我们指的是

So Lindsay though, but when we talk about big plans, we mean

那些

plans that

很重要的

are important.

你懂吧？

You know?

对。

Mhmm.

是的。

Yes.

但‘大’这个词其实容易让人困惑，因为它包含的意思不止是‘体积大’这么简单。

But the term big can actually get confusing because it has more meaning than just the word large.

对吧？

Right?

它还有更多层含义。

It's more than that.

没错。

Yes.

确实如此。

It does.

对吧？

Right?

这可不只是说它‘yo’那么简单。

It's not just that it's yo.

对。

Yeah.

今天我们就要聊这个，因为这个问题是听众提的。

So so there's we're gonna get into into this today because it's based on a listener question.

这些是我们最喜爱的节目，Michelle，都是根据听众问题做的。

And these are our favorite episodes, Michelle, that are based on listener questions.

那我来念一下这个问题吧？

So shall I go ahead and read the question?

当然，请讲。

Sure, please.

好的。

Alright.

这是来自YouTube的。

This is from YouTube.

各位别忘了，我们有个非常活跃的YouTube频道。

Guys, don't forget that we have a thriving YouTube channel.

你去YouTube搜索“All Ears English Podcast”，就能找到我们。

If you go over to YouTube and you type in All Ears English Podcast, you will find us.

在那里点个订阅吧。

You can hit subscribe over there.

明白吗？

Okay?

这条留言来自文森特·奥德里格。

So this is from Vincent O'Drigue.

来听听看。

Here we go.

你好。

Hello.

听你们的节目真的很棒。

It's great to listen to you.

我想请你解释一下 'big' 和 'great'、'little' 和 'small' 这几组词的正确用法。

I would like you to clarify the correct usage of big versus great, little versus small.

我叫文森特，来自多米尼加共和国。

My name is Vincent from the Dominican Republic.

好的。

Alright.

对。

Yeah.

很好。

Great

这个问题问得好，文森特。

question, Vincent.

非常感谢。

Thank you so much.

我敢肯定，很多听众也都对这个问题有疑问。

This is I'm sure that a lot of our listeners have questions about this.

对。

Mhmm.

巨大。

Huge.

是的。

Yes.

我很喜欢听众提出这种非常具体的问题。

And I love when our listeners send in those very specific questions.

今天我们就来解释一下它们的区别，各自的含义，以及在什么情况下使用哪一个。

So we're gonna explain the differences today, what they mean, and when, and what scenarios you would use each one.

明白吗？

Okay?

是的。

Yeah.

因为确实，这些词意思相近，但用法不同。

Because, yeah, these words are similar for sure, they are used differently.

但我们平时聊天时经常用到它们。

But we use them constantly in conversation.

确实如此。

It's true.

而且，它们不仅用来描述事物，对表达情感也很重要。

And one, I mean, they're very important for connection, not only for describing things, but they also help show emotion.

比如，说‘大计划’听起来就比光说‘计划’重要多了。

Like, for example, big plans sounds much more important than just saying plans.

是的。

Yes.

没错。

Right.

差别可大了。

There's a big difference.

对吧？

Right?

如果一件事会对你的生活产生重大影响，或者对你来说意义重大，那就该说‘大计划’。

If something is gonna have a big impact on your life, if it means a lot to you, you should say big plans.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Yeah.

所以朋友们，如果不想错过任何一期节目，现在就赶紧点个关注吧。

So guys, don't forget to go ahead and hit the follow button right now on the podcast if you don't want to miss a single episode.

如果你在YouTube上，也别忘了订阅这个频道。

Or if you're in YouTube, make sure you are subscribed to the show.

明白吗？

Alright?

当然。

Definitely.

好的。

Alright.

那我们先来聊聊‘big’和‘great’吧，Lindsay。

So let's start with big and great, Lindsay.

好的。

Okay.

什么时候我们会用‘big’呢？

When would we use big?

‘Big’当然常用来形容物理尺寸。

Well, big is definitely used to talk about physical size.

所以我们不会说‘这撑不住’这种话。

So we're not gonna say that doesn't hold up here.

这明显是成立的。

That obviously does.

这是最直观的用法，但它也用来表示很多其他方面，比如重要性、重大决定。

It's the most obvious one, but it's also used to talk about so many other things like importance, a big decision.

对吧？

Right?

严重性，一个大问题。

Seriousness, a big problem.

人生中的重要时刻。

Life moments.

明天是个重要的日子。

Tomorrow's a big day.

她得到了一次重大晋升。

She got a big promotion.

对吧？

Right?

所以它的含义远不止于说‘我有个大房子’。

So it's so much more than just saying, I have a big house.

对吧？

Right?

没错。

Right.

人们第一反应可能就是这种用法，但其实远不止这些。

That's kind of, you know, maybe that's the first thing people think of, that usage, but there's a lot more to it.

而且我们经常用‘big’搭配某些词。

And we can also use big with certain words a lot.

你经常会听到一些固定的搭配。

You know, there are just little chunks that you might hear.

比如 big deal、big opportunity、big mistake 这样的表达。

So for example, big deal, big opportunity, big mistake.

还有别的吗，林赛？

What else, Lindsay?

big change 或者 big fan。

Big change or big fan.

我就是个大粉丝。

I'm a big fan.

你可是个粉红控，米歇尔。

You are a big fan, Michelle, of pink.

我知道。

I know that.

对。

Yes.

我昨天刚看了些关于粉色的内容，一下子又爱上了。

I was just watching stuff about pink yesterday, and I was my my love was renewed all over again.

我爱粉色。

I love you, pink.

不过你知道吗，'big deal' 这个说法其实挺有意思的。

But you know what's funny about the phrase big deal though?

有时候它是反着用的，意思是那事儿其实根本没多大不了。

Sometimes that's used sarcastically to mean the thing is actually quite small.

哎，不就是这么点事嘛。

Went, ah, big deal.

或者就说，没什么大不了的。

Or no big deal.

我们通常会说‘没什么大不了的’，我想。

We say no big deal, I guess.

没错。

Right.

但我们根本不会说‘yeah’这种话。

But we don't even be yeah.

但你倒是会说‘yeah’。

But you're yeah.

你说得对。

You're right.

有时候我们会说，‘哎，就这点事罢了。’

Sometimes we say, ah, just big deal.

就像是——

It's like,

谁在乎呢？

Who cares?

是的，我们确实这么说。

Yeah, we do say that.

所以大家要注意了。

So be careful here guys.

有些词的用法恰恰和我们说的意思相反。

Some of these are used to mean the opposite of what we're saying.

咱们还是回到节目本身吧，米歇尔。

But let's get back to the episode, Michelle.

那‘great’这个词呢？

What about great?

什么时候我们会用‘yeah’来表示……

When would we Yeah, use

‘great’是用来形容质量的。

so great is used to talk about quality.

对吧？

Right?

她是个很棒的老师。

So she's a great teacher.

没错。

Yes.

或者形容一次愉快的经历。

Or a positive experience.

今天我们去游泳池玩得特别开心。

So we had a great time at the pool today.

也可能是强烈的推荐。

Or could also be a strong recommendation.

这是个非常好的主意。

So that's a great idea.

我们还常用‘great’搭配哪些词呢？

What else do we use great with?

比如说，我们经常用在工作上，像‘干得漂亮’之类的。

I mean, we use great with a lot of things like jobs, like great job, right?

是的

Yeah.

你做的这份工作，对吧？

So the work you've done, right?

米歇尔，你为这期节目准备得非常出色。

You've done a great job preparing this episode, Michelle.

团队为这期节目做了充分的准备，感谢我们的团队成员。

Team has done a great job preparing Thank this you to our team member.

谢丽尔帮忙准备了这一期，谢谢。

Cheryl helped prepare this one, think.

有个好消息，对吧？

Great news, right?

很大的努力，或者很棒的问题，或者绝佳的主意。

Great effort or great question or great idea.

对

Yes.

是的，没错。

Yeah, yeah.

我的意思是，我们用‘great’来表示物理尺寸上的大吗？

I mean, we use great to mean something big in physical size?

所以有时候你会听到这种用法，对吧？

So sometimes you hear this, right?

但这种用法比较少见。

But it's a little bit more rare.

是的。

Yeah.

我听过有人这么用，对吧？

I've heard it used, right?

只是平时对话中不太会这么说。

Just not in like everyday conversation.

听起来稍微正式一点，可能在新闻里会听到。

It feels a little more formal, maybe on the news.

对吧？

Right?

我听过政治家说，我们在与这个国家谈判时面临巨大挑战，类似这样的话。

I've heard politicians say we faced great challenge in, you know, negotiating with this country, that kind of thing.

没错。

Right.

而且这并不一定指实际的物理尺寸，但你能在文学作品里看到这种用法。

And that not that's not even necessarily about actual size, like but you will see it in literature.

所以如果你想形容某物的规模很大，可能会读到类似‘群山巍然矗立在他们面前’这样的句子。

So if you wanna like something the size of something, you might read something like the Great Mountains stood before them.

是的。

Yeah.

它就是

It's

就是这么回事。

just, you know.

所以，你知道，我是说，对。

So, you know, I mean, mhmm.

是的。

Yeah.

没错。

Exactly.

还有那些非正式的称呼来表示大的意思，你可能会听到，比如‘大’之类的。

And informal titles to mean big, you might hear, like right.

比如五大湖，还有中国的长城。

Like, Great Lakes, the Great Wall Of China.

大沙丘。

Great Sand Dunes.

我觉得那个是在科罗拉多州。

I think those that's in Colorado.

对。

Yeah.

地图上好多地方都带‘大’字，比如国家公园之类的。

There's a lot of national national parks parks or, or, like, like, places places on the map marked great as part

你还会听到‘室内大世界’或者‘户外大天地’这样的说法。

of your also will just hear, like, the great indoors or the great outdoors.

对吧？

Right?

这两个都不是。

Both of the no.

不过好像真有一家店叫‘室内大世界’，我不太确定。

But isn't there isn't there I think there might be a store called the great indoors.

我不太清楚。

I don't know.

但‘户外大天地’确实是这样用的。

But, yeah, The Great Outdoors.

不过，确实如此。

But, yeah.

还有类似的词吗？

Any similar words?

我们刚才已经提到一个了。

We kinda touched on one of them already.

当然，'large' 这个词也会冒出来。

I mean, of course, the word large comes up.

对吧？

Right?

咱们要是聊 'big' 和 'great'，那就绕不开 'large'。

If we're gonna talk about big, great, we gotta talk about large.

没错。

Yep.

确实得提。

We gotta.

那在什么情况下我们会用 'large' 呢，米歇尔？

So when would we use large now, Michelle?

是的

Yeah.

我们用它来表示尺寸，就是大的意思。

Well, so we use it to mean size, like big.

但听起来更中性、更客观一些。

But it sounds a little bit more neutral and factual.

对吧？

Right?

比如尺寸方面。

So like size.

她在一家大公司工作。

She works for a large corporation.

对

Mhmm.

或者数量上。

Or numbers.

参加这场音乐会的人很多。

A large number of people attended the concert.

嗯？

K?

或者说是规模。

Or a scale.

他们的库存管理是大规模的。

They deal with inventory on a large scale.

对。

Mhmm.

但我们在描述情感类情况时一般不会这么用。

But we wouldn't really use it for emotional situations.

比如，那是个很大的错误。

Like, that's a large mistake.

我们会这么说吗？

Would that would we say that?

这感觉奇怪吗？

Does that feel strange?

不奇怪。

No.

那确实挺奇怪的，你说是吧。

That that that feels very strange, don't you Yeah.

我有这种感觉，因为‘大’这个词听起来更偏科学一些。

I I do because I feel like large is a little bit more scientific.

感觉更偏向科学一点。

It feels a little more scientific.

稍微更科学一点。

A little more

中性的事实。

Neutral fact.

某种程度上是这样。

In a way.

是的。

Yep.

对。

Yes.

完全没错。

Totally.

百分之百。

A 100%.

好的，米歇尔。

Alright, Michelle.

所以听众也问到了 'small' 和 'little' 的区别。

So the listener also asked about small and little.

没错。

Yeah.

这些小词真的容易让人搞混。

All these little words that can trip us up.

我们以为自己懂，但其实可能没我们想的那么清楚。

We think we know them, but maybe we don't quite know them as well as we think.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Right.

是的。

Yeah.

没错。

Exactly.

至于‘small’，它的反义词是‘large’，讲的是大小。

So for small, I mean, small is the opposite of large.

它指的是尺寸。

It's about size.

而且听起来很客观。

And it also sounds factual.

比如说，我住在一个小公寓里。

So for example, I live in a small apartment.

我开了一家小公司。

So I run a small business.

那可是一大笔钱。

That's a good chunk.

是的。

Yeah.

对。

Yeah.

或者我犯了个小错误。

Or I made a small mistake.

没错。

Yes.

通常小企业是根据员工人数来界定的。

And usually a small business is defined by the number of employees.

我觉得在美国，通常是员工少于100人或者少于500人。

I think in The US, though, I I want to say it's either employee less than 100 or less than 500 employees.

这不算小了。

It's not that small.

对。

Yeah.

没错。

That's

是的。

yeah.

它们没那么小。

They're not that small.

有些确实不小。

Some of them are not.

还有一些，比如有时候我们会说微型企业。

And some of them, like, sometimes you say, like, micro businesses.

我觉得我们算得上是一家微型公司。

I would call us kind of a micro business.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Uh-huh.

没错。

Uh-huh.

你明白吧？

You know?

不过我们自己也常说是小企业。

But I also use the term small business to refer to us too.

这里头的细节可真不少啊，米歇尔。

So lots of details here, Michelle.

那其他一些说法呢？

What about with certain expressions?

一些表达方式。

Certain expressions.

是的。

Yeah.

所以我们经常会说，这种情况其实很常见。

So we might you well, this is really common.

这个世界真小啊。

It's such a small world.

对吧？

Right?

这句话通常用在遇到巧合的时候，比如你碰到了熟人。

That's used mostly when, you know, if there's some sort of coincidence or you meet someone.

没错。

Yep.

比如说，我记得我大概十岁的时候在旧金山，曾在一家茶馆碰见了我们认识的人。

Like, I mean, remember when I was in San Francisco when I was probably 10 years old, we ran into someone that we knew like a tea garden.

当然了。

Course.

当然。

Of course.

他们就说：‘那不是卡普林一家吗？’

They were like, are are those the Caplins?

你看，这种时候确实经常会用到这句话。

You know, that's certainly a time when you would use it.

对。

Yep.

这种事经常发生。

This happens all the time.

我觉得还有一首歌。

And I think there was also a song.

我记得主题公园里有个叫‘小小世界’的游乐项目，放的就是这首歌。

I I like, there was a ride at theme parks, Small World, and they would play that song.

是的

Yeah.

那是迪士尼世界。

That's Disney World.

是的

Yeah.

迪士尼世界。

Disney World.

琳赛，你真得去体验一下。

Lindsay, you gotta get on this.

我真得去体验一下。

I gotta get on it.

我知道。

I know.

既然我马上要当父母了，我得去了解迪士尼了。

Now that I'm gonna be having a child, I gotta get into Disney.

是的

Yeah.

我不会为你唱这首歌，但确实如此。

I'm not gonna sing the song for you, but yeah.

是的

Yeah.

世界真小。

It's a small world after all.

是的

Yeah.

人人都知道这首歌。

Everyone knows this.

对

Yeah.

没错

Yeah.

当然了。

For sure.

但还有那种闲聊，我们在节目里经常提到。

But there's also small talk, we talk about all the time in the show.

所以我们不会说‘是的’。

So we wouldn't say yeah.

我的意思是，你干脆直接说‘我讨厌闲聊’好了。

I mean, just you could say I hate small talk.

没错。

Exactly.

挺有意思的，为什么我们不说‘讨厌大谈’呢？

And it's funny, like, why don't we say I hate big talk?

我们根本不会说‘大谈’，对吧？

We don't say big talk, right?

这词根本不存在。

Doesn't exist.

所以有时候，反义词是用不了的。

So sometimes the opposite can't be used.

对吧？

Right?

大家记住这一点。

Keep that in mind, guys.

我们也不说‘大谈话’。

Or we don't say large talk either.

没错。

No.

小号、大号这些词其实可以用在衣服尺码上，对吧？

There's also small and large could be used for clothing sizes, right?

小号、中号、大号。

Small, medium, large.

对。

Right.