agrandir

The French verb "agrandir" means "to enlarge," "to make bigger," or "to expand." It refers to the action of increasing the size or scale of something, such as a photo, a room, or an object.

Usage:

• Agrandir une photo: to enlarge a photo.
• Agrandir une maison: to extend or enlarge a house.
• Agrandir un texte: to increase the font size of a text.

Synonyms and differences:

• Élargir: means "to widen" or "to broaden." It often refers to increasing width or making something wider (e.g., a road or a corridor). Unlike "agrandir," it emphasizes the width dimension.

• Augmenter: means "to increase" in a more general sense. It can apply to quantities, prices, volume, etc., but not directly to physical size or dimensions.

• Allonger: means "to lengthen," i.e., to make something longer in length specifically.

So:

• Use agrandir for size or scale increases in general.
• Use élargir when focusing on width increase.
• Use allonger for making something longer.

Example sentence:

• Je vais agrandir la photo pour qu’on la voie mieux. (I am going to enlarge the photo so we can see it better.)