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— How big is your flat?
— Is it an interesting book?
— Does she sing well?
Here the usual response is tiFairly big/interesting/well" (with logical stress on fairly) or iiQuite big/interesting/well" (with logical stress on quite).
52 quite
There is a tendency in modern English to use quite not only in its original sense of completely or absolutely,
eg 24. — You're quite right.
25. — I quite agree.
26.— /ias quite recovered from his illness.
but in the sense of "to a certain extent", instead of fairly or rather.
eg 27. — How are you?
— Quite well, thank you.
28. — TAfs book is quite interesting.
29. — They've got quite a big house.
30. — He speaks English quite well.
31. —It9S quite warm today.
32. — I quite enjoyed the film.
This use of quite is now very common, especially in colloquial English.
It may seem confusing at first sight that the same word can mean either "completely" or "to a certain extent". In practice, however, sentences with quite are not usually ambiguous to English people, since the meaning of quite is determined by (1) the word which it modifies and (2) sometimes, by intonation and stress.
Quite tends to be used in the sense of "completely" especially with words and phrases denoting extreme states, such as: all right, alone, empty, exhausted, hopeless, impossible, mad, out of the question, ridiculous, right/wrong, still, sure, true, and verbs denoting completed actions.
eg 33. — Vd quite forgotten.
34. — He's quite recovered.
35. — I haven't quite finished.
There are also words which strictly speaking do not fit into this category but are traditionally used with quite in the sense of "completely, absolutely": eg all right, differently), Clear(Iy)i suddenly), unexpectedly) agree, understand.
In these combinations quite has an emphatic effect. Generally the main stress falls on the word or phrase modified but quite carries a fairly strong stress too.
eg 36. — You're 1quite ^right. 37. — I lquite forgot.
Occasionally the logical stress may fall on quite:
53 eg 38.—Are you sure?
—Yes,Nquit.e sure.
39.—Is it quite hopeless?
With words expressing "relative" concepts, that is, those which may imply a greater or lesser degree, such as good, well, Iarge/small, hot/cold, clever, interesting, etc., quite tends to mean "to a certain extent".
eg 40. — How are you?
— Quite well, thank you.
41.— Marion wrote quite a good essay.
42.— Did you enjoy the book?
— Yes, it was quite interesting.
43. — He can run quite fast.
44. — She comes to see me quite often.
45. — I quite like Julia.
46. — I quite enjoyed the film.
Here also the main stress usually falls on the word modified, but quite is not stressed. The stronger the stress on the word modified, the more positive the effect. For instance, the more one stresses interesting in example 42 above, the more interesting the book is felt to be.
In this type of sentence quite is close in meaning to fairly and rather. There is very little difference between quite and fairly here. For example, we may say
— Vm quite well or: — Vm fairly well.
— Marion wrote quite a good essay or: ... a fairly good essay.
— He speaks English quite well or: ... fairly well
with no change of meaning or emphasis. On the whole, however, quite tends to be preferred to fairly in sentences of this type nowadays, at least in colloquial English. In addition, quite can be used with verbs (I quite like Julia), whereas fairly cannot (with certain rare exceptions). As for the difference between quite and rather here, rather has a slightly more positive emphasis. For example, He speaks English rather well suggests a higher standard of spoken English than He speaks English quite well. Quite is more non-committal, neutral.
54 Owing to the "relative" meaning of words modified by quite in this sense, the logical stress tends to shift to quite more often, and it then restricts the meaning of the word modified, implying "not very".
eg 47.-Does he speak English well? —Quite jWell.
48. -How big is their flat?
\ .
— Quite jbig.
49. —Is it an interesting book?
— Quite ^interesting.
Quite also has various idiomatic uses. For example, it occurs as an expression of polite agreement, either alone or with SO.
eg. 50. — It's a very difficult situation.
— Quite (so).
Note, however, that this use is confined to formal style. Quite means "at least" in such sentences as:
51. — It must be quite six months since I last saw him.
It is also used in the expressions:
— quite a/some time = rather a long time eg 52. — We waited quite a/some time.
— quite a lot/few = rather a large quantity/number
In spite of the difference in meaning between a lot and a few, these two expressions are practically synonymous.
Exercise 1. Fill in the blanks with fairly or rather, using the former to denote a sufficient or desirable degree and the latter to denote an undesirable degree.
