English 24
11th January 2003
A little bit of GRAMMAR

This week's grammar item was quite and rather; which are quite useful in helping your fluency and understanding . Be careful not to confuse quite with quiet!
Let's begin with Quite:

1. Quite = less than "very" but more than " a little":
§ I'm surprised you've never heard of that pop group. They are quite famous. (=less than very famous but more than a little famous)
§ It's quite cold. You should wear a jacket.
§ Sarah lives quite close to me, so we see each other quite often.

NB. Quite goes before a/an

quite a nice day quite an old pub quite a long way

We also use quite with some verbs, especially like and enjoy:
§ I quite like football but it's not my favourite sport.
§ I quite enjoy classical music, but if I had choose a favourite then I'd have to say I prefer jazz.

2.Rather can be seen as similar to quite but we use rather mainly with negative words or negative ideas:
§ It's rather chilly, so you'd better wear your coat.
§ How did your maths exam go? It was rather difficult.
§ I'll ask if there is a bus we can catch, as it's rather a long way to walk.

You will find that quite is also possible in the above examples.
However we often use quite with a positive idea and rather with a negative idea:
§ Jennifer is quite intelligent but rather lazy.

When we use rather with positive words (nice/interesting etc.) it means "unusually" or "surprisingly". For example: rather nice = unusually nice / surprisingly nice /nicer than expected:

§ These apples are rather nice. Where did you buy them?
§ Ellie didn't like the film but I thought it was rather good. (better than I thought it was going to be)

Rather can go before or after a/an:
A rather interesting book or rather an interesting book

3.Quite can also mean "completely". Yes, I know, before we told you that it meant "less than very and more than a little" - but it can also mean completely with a number of adjectives, especially the following:

amazed certain extraordinary impossible safe
amazing different right sure true unnecessary wrong
Examples
§ "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm quite sure" (= completely sure)
§ Tom was quite different from what I had expected. (completely different)
§ I was quite amazed at the lies she told. (completely amazed)
§ I'm quite certain that that is what happened. (completely certain)
§ What she did was quite unnecessary. (completely unnecessary)
§ You are quite wrong. (completely wrong)

We also use QUITE (="completely") with some verbs:
§ I quite agree with you. (I completely agree with you)
§ Stephen can't come out to play he hasn't quite finished his tea yet! (completely finished)
§ I don't quite understand what you mean.

Time to practice!!!!

Exercise 1
This is a very easy exercise, all you have to do is rewrite the following sentences inserting quite in the right place.
e.g. It happened a long time ago. It happened quite a long time ago.

1. The bags of shopping were heavy.
2. Joanne bought an expensive pair of shoes.
3. It was an amazing experience.
4. It was a nice day out.
5. She was a good-looking girl.
6. Carmen Consoli has a good voice.
7. My husband has a good job.
8. Last week there were strong gales almost every day.

Exercise 2
Complete the following sentences using the words in brackets. Each time use quite with the positive word and rather with the negative word.
e.g. Jennifer is quite intelligent but rather lazy.

1. My sister's bedroom is _ _ but _ _. (clean/tidy)
2. My brother's job is _ _ but it's _ _ . (well-paid/stressful)
3. The play was _ _ but it was _ _. (good/short)
4. My brother thought the film was _ _ but I found it _ _. (exciting/boring)
5. He thought the film's plot was _ _ but I felt it was _ _ ( interesting /convoluted)
6. When the decorators left I was _ _ with the result, but my husband _ _. (happy/disappointed)
7. I think most TV programmes are _ _ and _, but my flatmate thinks they are _ _ . (repetitive, outdated /entertaining)
8. Even though next door's dog is _ _, I have to say he is _ _. (well-behaved/noisy)

Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences using quite with a word from the list below.
Impossible safe true right wrong amazing different sure

1. The police didn't believe me at first, but then they realised what I had told them was __
2. I'm afraid I can't do what you ask. It's _ _
3. Don't worry you won't hurt yourself, it's _ _.
4. I hate to say this but he's _ _.
5. No officer, I'm _ _ that this is the man who stole my car.
6. I went on a safari in Africa and I have to say it was _ an _ experience.
7. I don't believe anyone can hold their breath for ten minutes! It's _ _.
8. I don't think this product is the same quality as last year's. In fact I think it is _ _.

Answers below

Answers

Exercise 1
1. The bags of shopping were quite heavy; 2. Joanne bought quite an expensive pair of shoes; 3. It was quite an amazing experience; 4. It was quite a nice day out; 5. She was quite a good-looking girl; 6. Carmen Consoli has quite a good voice; 7. My husband has quite a good job; 8. Last week there were quite strong gales almost every day.

Exercise 2
1. quite clean; rather untidy;
2. quite well-paid; rather stressful;
3. quite good; rather short;
4. quite exciting; rather boring;
5. quite interesting; rather convoluted;
6. quite happy; rather disappointed;
7. rather repetitive and outdated; quite entertaining;
8. quite well-behaved; rather noisy

Exercise 3
1.quite true; 2. quite wrong; 3. quite safe; 4. quite right; 5.quite sure; 6.quite amazing; 7. quite impossible; 8. quite different