What is the difference between big and great?
For example:
"The government has spent a big deal of money attempting to help the
region."
Can I use "great" in this sentence?
And for the below sentence:
"I don't really care about failing the exam. It's no great deal,
really.
Can I use "big" in this sentence? If no why not?
"It was time for her to make the big or great decision should she
agree to marry him?"
Which one is correct? "great or big" ?
Best Answer
is the best sounding choice to me. Probably context has a lot to do with it.
For example, big is better here:
And the last example (including a different grammar correction):
or
But in another context:
In these kinds of examples, great refers to something very positive or beneficial (or very negative or disasterous), while "big" has more to do with the importance of something (as in the marriage decision).