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 #2 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 9:35 am Quite/fairly |
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Hi Tom,
You asked:
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1- You fairly took me by surprise.
( completely or moderately??????)
2- Your work is fairly satisfactory.
(completely or moderately??????)
3-That is quite good.(pretty or to some extent??????)
How can a novice like me take out the correct meaning? |
Let's try the similarity first. They both mean to a certain extent not wholly or completetly but to a limited degree
Now the differences: quite good suggests on the 'good scale' in a positive way that it is going towards being completely good but it's not got that far: fairly good suggests on the 'good scale' that there is disappointment in the speaker's mind that it's not better and it only just qualifies at being on the 'good scale'
Now that's not all because quite has another life and suggests completely when it's used with absolute words or positive words that are not usually used in comparable forms (degrees of comparison) as in: I think my computer is quite amazing. Quite when used with verbs is clearly used in a completely positive way:
I quite understand what you mean (I completely understand what you mean) I think I would write your first sentence in that way: You quite took me by surprise.
I hope this throws a little light on the differences. Perhaps when you read and come across either word, you could check its use against my notes.
Alan
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Alan
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| #3 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 9:47 am Adverbs: Quite, Fairly |
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Yes Dear, it was really wonderful----and, of course helpful
Tom |
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Tom
Guest
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| #4 (permalink) Sun May 28, 2006 10:02 am Adverbs: Quite, Fairly |
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Hi Tom
I think Alan's explanation is quite good! :D
I'll add one more note. (It was your first sentence that made me think of this.)
The word "fairly" can have a further meaning, when it precedes a verb:
The ground fairly shook when the herd of horses pounded by.
The painting fairly explodes with color and vitality.
In these sentences, I would understand the word "fairly" to have a meaning similar to "actually" or "literally".
Amy
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| Punctuation: use of dash | Meaning of "about home" |
