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Which is the difference between fairly good, quite good, rather good and pretty good ?

These words strengthen or weaken the adjective or adverb that follows.

Quite/pretty/rather/fairly = less than 'very' but more than 'a little'. Quite and pretty are very similar in meaning: 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 Quite goes before a/an: and used mainly in spoken English. We is 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.

Quite is used before "positive"' and "negative" adjectives: quite clever quite stupid quite hot

Quite is often used before non-gradable adjectives. A non-gradable adjective cannot be used to say that something is more or less e.g. a glass cannot be more empty or less empty. An animal cannot be more dead or less dead. Quite used before non-gradable adjectives means completely The bottle

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)

Quite used before gradable adjectives weakens the adjective Her English is quite good. Quite used before non-gradable adjectives often provides emphasis: Fiona: Sorry, the bottle is empty. Paul: Oh surely there's just a drop more...? Fiona, turning the bottle upside down: No, really, it's quite empty.

Rather is similar to quite and pretty.


We often use rather for negative ideas:

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

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?

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 We see each other fairly often, but not as often as we used to.

Fairly is used before "positive" adjectives: fairly clever fairly interesting fairly good

Fairly and rather mean: moderately, not good not bad. Fairly and Rather before 'Neutral' Adjectives
Fast alive dark concerned hot tame tall heavy.These adjectives are neither "positive" nor "negative," they are "neutral." You can use both fairly and rather before neutral adjectives, but the meaning is different: fairly hot rather hot When you say: "This tea is fairly hot," you imply that you like to drink hot tea. So hot is "positive" for you. When you say: "This tea is rather hot," you imply that you dont like hot tea, or that this tea is too hot for you to

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