四大 (sìdà): the Big Four

Meanings

1 the Big Four
2 the four major (followed by a noun)

Characters

四

Examples

她毕业后进了四大会计师事务所。

Tā bìyè hòu jìn le sìdà kuàijìshī shìwùsuǒ.

After graduation she joined one of the Big Four accounting firms.

《红楼梦》是中国四大名著之一。

Hónglóumèng shì Zhōngguó sìdà míngzhù zhī yī.

Dream of the Red Chamber is one of China's Four Great Classic Novels.

Tips

usage

四大 modifies a following noun. Common collocations: 四大名著 (Four Great Classic Novels), 四大发明 (Four Great Inventions), 四大天王 (Four Heavenly Kings / four 1990s Cantopop stars), and in business 四大 alone usually means the Big Four accounting firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG).