Meaning and Usage
The adjective 膨大 (ぼうだい) describes something extremely large in quantity or size, often used for abstract or measurable things like data, costs, or information. It conveys a sense of vastness or enormity.
Common Contexts
You will often see 膨大 used in formal or written contexts such as business, science, or news reports when emphasizing the scale of something.
Collocations and Patterns
- 膨大なデータ (enormous data): frequently used in IT, research, or statistics.
- 膨大な費用 (enormous cost): common in financial or project discussions.
- 膨大な情報量 (enormous amount of information): used when talking about knowledge or data volume.
Nuances and Tips
膨大 emphasizes quantity or size rather than physical bulk. It is more formal than casual words like 大きい. Avoid using it for small or tangible objects. Learners sometimes confuse it with words meaning "swelling" or "inflation" in a physical sense, but 膨大 is abstract and quantitative.
Use 膨大 when you want to stress the impressively large scale of something intangible or measurable.