1.
big, large
Of considerable size; prenominal adjective form.
大きな is a pre-noun adjectival (連体詞) meaning 'big' or 'large.' It can only appear directly before a noun.
DIFFERENCE FROM 大きい:
- 大きな: only before nouns (大きな家). Cannot be a predicate.
- 大きい: can be used both as a predicate (家が大きい) and before nouns (大きい家)
In practice, both forms are interchangeable when modifying nouns, but only 大きい can end a sentence.
SIMILAR PAIRS:
These な/連体詞 forms are not na-adjectives — they are a special grammatical class that has only the attributive form.