Translation guide
The English word 'prodigious' has two main meanings: 'extremely large or great' and 'remarkable or extraordinary'. This guide helps learners express these nuances naturally in Japanese.
Describing something that is impressively huge, vast, or enormous.
Means 'enormous' or 'immense', often used for amounts, sums, or scale. A natural fit for 'prodigious' in the sense of huge quantity.
Describing something that is astonishingly good, impressive, or exceptional.
Means 'miraculous' or 'wondrous'. Perfect for prodigious talent, memory, or achievements that inspire awe.
Both mean 'enormous', but 莫大な often implies a sense of vastness that is almost immeasurable (e.g., wealth, cost), while 膨大な is more about bulk or volume (e.g., data, documents). They overlap significantly.
English 'prodigious' is not commonly used in everyday conversation; it's somewhat formal or literary. In Japanese, using 驚異的な or 並外れた in casual speech may sound overly dramatic. For casual contexts, simpler words like すごい (amazing) or 巨大な (huge) might be more natural.
She ate a prodigious amount of food.
Uses 驚くほど (surprisingly) to convey the sense of 'prodigious' naturally.
He amassed a prodigious fortune.
Emphasizes vastness or bulk, often for data, amounts, or physical size. Slightly more formal than 莫大な.
The project requires a prodigious amount of data.
Conveys 'outrageous' or 'unimaginable' in scale. Adds a nuance of being beyond common sense. Often used in speech.
He set the record with prodigious effort.
Simply 'huge' or 'gigantic'. More concrete and physical, but can be used metaphorically.
The animal has a prodigious appetite.
She has a prodigious memory.
Literally 'out of the ordinary'. Emphasizes that something is far beyond normal standards. Common for skills or abilities.
He is a person of prodigious talent.
General term for 'wonderful' or 'splendid'. Less intense than 'prodigious' but widely understood. Use with adverbs like 本当に (truly) for emphasis.
He left a truly prodigious legacy.
Means 'astonishing' or 'surprising'. Can be used for both positive and negative contexts, but fits 'prodigious' when emphasizing shock value.
His knowledge is prodigious.
彼の並外れた力に皆が驚いた。
His prodigious strength amazed everyone.