quite, rather, fairly, pretty | Adverbs of Degree | English Vocabulary Lesson

So, a question from Luis is: How do we use  'quite'? 'quite' is an adverb of degree,  

and it falls in the group that we have other  adverbs in, like 'very, pretty, rather, fairly,  

and a little'. Now, 'quite' is possibly the most  complicated one of these adverbs of degree. So,  

we will end with 'quite'. But let's start with the  other ones. So, let me share my next slide with  

you. And here it is, I hope. Yeah! There it is.  So, adverbs of degree come before, mainly before,  

adjectives. So, here I have grouped them into  three groups. 'very', 'pretty', and 'rather',  

and 'fairly', and 'a little'. And as you can  see, they just decrease in degree. 'Very' is  

to a great degree. 'Pretty' and 'rather' are to a  moderate degree. And 'fairly' and 'little' are to  

a small degree. Now, what's the difference  between for example 'pretty' and 'rather',  

and 'fairly' and a 'little'. We go back to 'very',  to a great degree, you can use 'very' for both  

positive and negative ideas whereas for the  other groups (this is just a usage guide),  

'pretty' is used with positive ideas, and 'rather'  is used with negative ideas. And for the small  

degree adverbs, 'fairly' is used with positive  ideas, and 'a little' with negative ideas. So,  

let's look at some examples. So, for example with  'very', a great deal or a great degree, you can have  

a positive adjective like 'satisfied'. Or a  negative one 'disappointed'. You can say: I'm very  

satisfied or I'm very disappointed. Now, if we  bring the degree down with 'pretty' and 'rather',  

use 'pretty' for the positive one: I'm pretty  (to a moderate extent) I'm pretty satisfied. But,  

if it's negative, best use 'rather': I'm rather  disappointed. And then further down with the  

positive adjective: I'm fairly satisfied. Not  a lot, but I'm fairly satisfied. Or: I'm a  

little disappointed. Right, so this clarifies the  degree that these define. Now, before we move onto  

'quite', which was Luis's question, I'd like to say  one thing about 'rather' that you need to bear in  

mind. Sometimes you may hear 'rather' used with a  positive idea. And if you hear that or use that,  

it means that you are surprised. For example  if you say: That meal was rather nice. I didn't  

expect that. There is an element of surprise. You  expected an average meal or a bad meal, and then  

you got a really good one. A nice one. So, that's  really the only case where 'rather' is used with  

a positive idea. And also note that if you have  a noun in your sentence after the adjective, the  

Indefinite Article can be in two positions with  'rather'. You may hear or you can say: That was a  

rather nice meal. So 'a' before 'rather'. Or: That  was rather a nice meal. So, 'a' after 'rather'.  

So, that finishes the first ones off, and brings  us to 'quite': a bit more complicated. So, here we  

go, Luis, your question. Now, 'quite' can be used  with both positive and negative ideas. But where  

it can get a bit tricky is that it has different  meanings. When you use 'quite' with gradable  

adjectives, it means 'to a moderate degree'. So,  not very, not a little, in the middle. So in that  

sense, it's similar to 'pretty' and 'rather'.  So if you say: I'm quite satisfied. It's like:  

I'm moderately satisfied. Or, you can also say:  I'm pretty satisfied. You can also use it with a  

negative idea saying: I'm quite disappointed.  And then it would be a synonym for 'rather':  

I'm rather disappointed. One little note here is  that the word 'pretty' is an informal word. So,  

avoid using it in formal situations or formal  writing particularly. Right, so now there is a  

bit more to say. So, with non-gradable adjectives,  and these are adjectives that you can't have like  

grade them, like if you say: Fantastic! Now  something is fantastic, it can't be a little  

fantastic or very fantastic. Okay, these are  called non-gradable adjectives. When you use  

'quite' with these adjectives, it just is a  synonym for 'completely' or 'absolutely'. So,  

if you say: I'm quite exhausted. That means that  you are completely exhausted. Or if you say:  

That was quite an amazing meal. It means that was  absolutely an amazing meal. But okay, a note here  

we saw where the article went with rather. It  could be before or after 'rather'. With 'quite',  

it's always after. So, notice the last sentence:  That was quite an amazing meal. Right what else  

have I got here? Right, we have been speaking  about adjectives. All these adverbs of degree  

going before adjectives. Just to point out that  they can equally go before adverbs. For example  

you can say (and with the same ideas): The project  is progressing very slowly. Negative. Or very  

well. Positive. And: The project is progressing  pretty or quite well. Positive. The project is  

progressing rather, quite slowly. Negative. The  project is progressing fairly well. Not a lot,  

but fairly well. Or: The project is progressing a  little slowly. Right, so exactly the same ideas,  

but now here we have adverbs instead of  adjectives. And to finish, I would like to mention  

three other things that 'quite' can be used with,  other than adverbs and adjectives. It can be used  

with opinion verbs like 'agree' for example.  You can say: I quite agree. And all it means  

is I completely agree. I fully agree. You can use  'quite' before 'a few' and 'a lot'. For example:  

She's written quite a few blogs. Now when you add  'quite' to 'a few', it makes it very similar to  

'many'. Remember 'a few' means 'some'. And if  you add 'quite' 'quite a few', you take it up  

and it reaches almost 'many'. Right and finally,  you may see or hear 'quite' used directly with  

a noun. Like: She enjoyed quite a success. In  that case, it's just a synonym for 'big'. Like:  

She enjoyed a big success. Right, that's the end  of the lesson. A short one just to clarify these  

adverbs of degree for you. I hope it's going to  help you to use these more correctly and also to  

understand the idea behind them when you hear them  used by others. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.  

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