How to Use the Word QUITE in English!

34,380 views ・ 2022-12-13

Learn English with Bob the Canadian


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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In English, we often use the word quite
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when we are talking,
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and there's a number of different ways to use the word quite
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when you're describing people or places.
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In this English lesson, I'll look at quite a few ways
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that you can use the word quite
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when you're speaking English,
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and when you're done, I think you'll be quite a bit better
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at using the word quite.
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(upbeat music)
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One of the ways English speakers use the word quite
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is when they use it with the word the
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to talk about a person or thing that's remarkable
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or to talk about someone or something that is awesome.
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You might hear something like this.
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Maybe you know someone who's a really good athlete.
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You could say, "She's quite the athlete."
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Maybe you know a person
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who's a really, really good musician.
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You could then say. "He's quite the musician."
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Maybe you've gone to the city
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and there's a really, really big building,
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and it just looks awesome.
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You could say, "Wow, this is quite the building."
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So one of the first ways we use quite,
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we combine it with the word the
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to talk about a person or thing
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that is awesome or remarkable.
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Another way we use the word quite
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is when we want to emphasize the description
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of a person, place, or thing,
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or when we want to emphasize the description of an action.
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Maybe you know someone who's really good looking.
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You could use the word quite
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in the same way we use the word very.
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You could say, "He is quite handsome."
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Maybe you go to visit a friend
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who just moved into a new apartment
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and you thought it was going to be big,
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but it's actually small, smaller than you thought.
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You could then say, "The apartment is quite small."
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I came outside today to make this video,
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and I would have to say it's quite cold out here today.
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Right now, I am talking quite slowly,
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and right now I'm talking quite quickly.
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So you can use the word quite to describe a person,
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to describe a place, to describe your environment,
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or to describe an action that is happening as well.
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And again, it's used almost exactly the same way
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as you would use the word very.
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We also use the word quite
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to emphasize how much we like doing something
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or how much we enjoy doing something.
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Maybe you have a camera
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and you take pictures and you like taking pictures.
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You could say to someone,
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"I quite like taking pictures with my new camera."
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Maybe you have started exercising
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and you've been doing it for a few months.
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If you are having a conversation with someone,
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you could say, "I quite enjoy exercising."
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So once again, you can use the word quite
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to kind of emphasize how much you like doing something
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or how much you enjoy doing it.
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You'll often hear English speakers using the word quite
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in a sentence where they're already describing something,
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and they just want to add an extra word
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to emphasize it a bit more.
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I could say this silo is a big building,
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but I could also say this silo is quite a big building.
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When I make these videos, it is a big job.
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It's a lot of work.
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But I could also say when I make these videos,
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it's quite a big job.
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I could use the word quite
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to once again emphasize what I'm saying.
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I do have to apologize,
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because English speakers love to add extra words
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into sentences when sometimes
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they don't seem completely necessary
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and quite is one of those words.
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We quite often add the word quite, we add it quite a bit.
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We add it quite a lot to sentences.
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And by the way, that's a few more phrases
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with the word quite
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to just say that something happens a lot
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or that something happens frequently.
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Sometimes we say quite a bit, quite a lot,
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or quite often when we're using the word quite
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in an English sentence.
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Anyways, thank you so much for watching this lesson.
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It was kind of put together quickly.
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You might be able to recognize that.
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As you know, I was a little bit sick a week ago
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so I kind of rushed this one,
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but I hope it was still really helpful for you.
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Remember, if you're new here,
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don't forget to click that red subscribe button.
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Give me a thumbs up, leave a comment,
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and of course, if you have a little bit of extra time,
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why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?
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(upbeat music)
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