104 : quite, pretty, rather and fairly

   A   

You can use quite/pretty/rather/fairly + adjectives or adverbs. So you can say:

• It's quite cold.
• It's pretty cold.
• It's rather cold.
• It's fairly cold.

 

Quite/pretty/rather/fairly = less than 'very' but more than 'a little'.

 

 

   B   

Quite and pretty are similar in meaning:

• I'm surprised you haven't heard of her. She's quite famous / pretty famous. (= less than 'very famous', but more than 'a little famous')
• Anna lives quite near me, so we see each other pretty often.

 

Pretty is an informal word and is used mainly in spoken English.

 

Quite goes before a/an:

• We live in quite an old house. (not a quite old house)

 

Compare:

• Sarah has quite a good job.
  Sarah has a pretty good job.

 

You can also use quite (but not pretty) in the following ways:
quite a/an + noun (without an adjective):

• I didn't expect to see them. It was quite a surprise. (= quite a big surprise)

 

quite a lot (of ... ):

• There were quite a lot of people at the meeting.

 

quite + verb, especially like and enjoy:

• I quite like tennis, but it's not my favourite sport.

 

 

   C   

Rather is similar to quite and pretty. We often use rather for negative ideas (things we think are not good):

• The weather isn't so good. It's rather cloudy.
• Paul is rather shy. He doesn't talk very much.

 

Quite and pretty are also possible in these examples.

 

When we use rather for positive ideas (good/nice etc.), it means 'unusually' or 'surprisingly':

• These oranges are rather good. Where did you get them?

 

 

   D   

Fairly is weaker than quite/rather/pretty. For example, if something is fairly good, it is not very good and it could be better:

• My room is fairly big, but I'd prefer a bigger one.
• We see each other fairly often, but not as often as we used to.

 

 

   E   

Quite also means 'completely'. For example:

• 'Are you sure?'  'Yes, quite sure.' (= completely sure)

 

Quite means 'completely' with a number of adjectives, especially:

sure         right      true    clear         different           incredible          amazing         certain    wrong    safe    obvious    unnecessary    extraordinary    impossible

• She was quite different from what I expected. (= completely different)
• Everything they said was quite true. (= completely true)

 

We also use quite (= completely) with some verbs. For example:

• I quite agree with you. (= I completely agree)

 

Not quite = not completely:

• They haven't quite finished eating yet.
• I don't quite understand what you mean.
• 'Are you ready yet?'  'Not quite.' (= not completely)

 

 

 

※ quite, pretty, rather, fairly  정리

 

quite 는 상당히 까다로운 어휘다. 의도적으로 암기하려고 하면 시간 낭비일 가능성이 크고, 오랜 시간 다독을 통해 무의식적으로 천천히 습득되길 바래야 할 듯하다. 콜로케이션으로(케이스 바이 케이스) 매우 많이 직접 경험해보는 방법밖에 없다. (시간적으로 영어에 충분히 노출되어야 습득 가능할 듯)

 

 

※ fair :

 

언어는 수학이 아니다. 상황에 따라 충분히 다른 의미로 쓰일 수 있다.