# 大きさ Meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Japanese Language\ **Created:** [May 4, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515 "2020-05-04T00:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![h3x](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@h3x](https://community.wanikani.com/u/h3x)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/1 "2020-05-04T00:19:08Z")
Hello I’m having trouble with the explanation for this vocab. The explanation is below. This sentence confuses me: “turned into words that describe what the adjective form is doing” & “the word that describes what “big” describes is the word size” Should I just accept that the definition is size? or can someone help me out with understanding the definition Wani Kani gives? Words that end with さ are often words that have taken the adjective form (in this case 大きい) of the word and turned into words that describe what the adjective form is doing, if that makes sense. So 大きい (big) goes to 大きさ, and the word that describes what “big” describes is the word size. ---
**Author:** ![Belthazar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/belthazar/32/4469_2.png) [@Belthazar](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Belthazar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/2 "2020-05-04T00:22:03Z")
Basically, the suffix ～さ is like the English suffix -ness. It turns the adjective into a noun that describes the property. For example, いい = good \> よさ = goodness; 優しい = kind \> 優しさ = kindness. In some cases, the English version doesn’t end with -ness, so you need to approximate. 大きさ = bigness = size. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/3 "2020-05-04T00:22:04Z")
You could think of it literally as the “bigness” of something. But we usually just say size when we talk about that kind of thing. It’s a “literal translation” vs. “natural translation” thing. ---
**Author:** ![h3x](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@h3x](https://community.wanikani.com/u/h3x)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/4 "2020-05-04T02:40:01Z")
Thank you! That actually make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![h3x](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@h3x](https://community.wanikani.com/u/h3x)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/5 "2020-05-04T02:40:15Z")
Thank you. Good examples! ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/6 "2020-05-04T02:41:20Z")
Unrelated, but on my screen I got my post in ahead of yours. Then I come back and I’m below. I am ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![Belthazar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/belthazar/32/4469_2.png) [@Belthazar](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Belthazar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/7 "2020-05-04T02:48:23Z")
Heh. I saw you writing so I rushed to get mine finished. I honestly thought it was “looks first but actually second” on my screen, so I refreshed just to make sure. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%95-meaning/43515/8 "2021-05-04T02:49:23Z")
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