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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #1 (permalink) Sun Sep 14, 2008 23:49 pm   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

"Quiet, quite. Quite means " completely." Do not use quite instead of very, rather, or somewhat".

Wrong : The apartment is quite expensive.
Right : The apartment is very ( rather, somewhat ) expensive.

Right : We must be quiet inside the library.
Right : You are quite wrong.

While studying English I ran into this topic (Quite confusing for me) and I did not understand the reason behind this rule, I found this "common English mistakes" from somebody`s website on the internet which does not include any grammar explanations/an English grammar link as of why this should be the case.
I am again here asking for help :0) for either an explanation for this rule or a link that you may know of.

God Bless you all.
Cisco.
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #2 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 0:13 am   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

Hi!
'Quite' and 'very' are used as intensifiers. I think that 'quite' is less emphatic than 'very' or 'extremely'.
There is a difference in meaning in the following examples.
a. House A is quite expensive. ($ 20,000)
b. House B is very expensive. ($ 30,000)
Both houses are expensive but house A is not as expensive as house B.
Quite can be replaced by rather or somewhat.
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Thanks al07 #3 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:03 am   Thanks al07
 

Thanks a lot al07, I appreciate your input.

God Bless you.
Cisco.
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #4 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:10 am   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

I would slightly disagree with the website; in British English,

1. X is quite expensive.

can mean

2. X is very expensive.

In such cases, "quite expensive" rises in intonation on "-pens-"; but where "quite" means "rather", the rise in intonation is on "quite".

MrP
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #5 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:15 am   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

Hi MrP,
I've heard that there is a difference in the meaning of 'quite' in British English and American English. 'quite' means 'very' in BrE and 'rather' in AmE. Is that right or wrong?

Many thanks,
Nessie.
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #6 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 15:41 pm   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

Hi Nessie

MrP gave you examples of British usage. Pay attention to what he told you about intonation -- I have heard and been told exactly the same sort of thing by other Brits. For example, saying "The film was quite good" is not the same as saying "The film was quite good". Though you might possibly hear the same sort of difference in the intonation of "quite" in AmE, I think this difference in meaning (based on intonation) for the word "quite" is more typically British than American.

Very generally speaking, the meaning of "quite" in AmE would usually be "very" rather than "rather/somewhat".

Naturally, there are other usages as well.
.
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Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat. #7 (permalink) Mon Sep 15, 2008 23:06 pm   Do not use quite instead of very, rather or somewhat.
 

Yankee wrote:
For example, saying "The film was quite good" is not the same as saying "The film was quite good".


Yes, I think that's it – the former suggests "having some reservations about the quality of the film", while the latter suggests "being pleasantly surprised by the quality of the film".

MrP
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