Unit 104. Quite, pretty, rather and fairly
Unit 104; Part A

• 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'.
Unit 104; Part B

• You'll need a coat when you go out. It's quite cold / pretty cold. (= less than 'very cold', but more than 'a little cold')
• I'm surprised you haven't heard of her. She's quite famous / pretty famous.
• Amanda 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:
• Sally has quite a good job.
Sally 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.
Unit 104; Part C

• 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?
Unit 104; Part D

• 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.
Unit 104; Part E

• '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 their dinner yet.
• I don't quite understand what you mean.
• 'Are you ready yet?' 'Not quite.' (= not completely)
Exercises
![]() | Unit 103 Unit 104 Unit 105 | ![]() |
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