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Pucca Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

Quite/Rather

0 Hello everybody,02br
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00I know this question is pretty simple but I don't know what the difference is between quite and rather. Are they synonyms? 02br
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00- It is quite interesting.02br
00- It is rather interesting.02br
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00Thanks in advance for your help!:) 0-
  

Top answer

0 Technically 01i 00quite02i 00 means 01i 00completely02i 00. This meaning applies more to the negative, where 01i 00I'm not quite finished02i 00 means 01i 00I'm not completely finished02i 00, but neither one of these means 01i 00*I'm not rather finished02i 00. 02br 02br 00 In the affirmative, 01i 00quite02i 00 can be used nearly synonymously with 01i 00rather02i 00, or as nearly synonymous with 01i 00completely02i 00.

— CalifJim

  • 0 Technically 01i 00quite02i 00 means 01i 00completely02i 00.
  • This meaning applies more to the negative, where 01i 00I'm not quite finished02i 00 means 01i 00I'm not completely finished02i 00, but neither one of these means 01i 00*I'm not rather finished02i 00.
  • 02br 02br 00 In the affirmative, 01i 00quite02i 00 can be used nearly synonymously with 01i 00rather02i 00, or as nearly synonymous with 01i 00completely02i 00.
  • 02i 00 [said with an excited tone of voice] (extremely interesting)02br 02br 00 I have replied on the basis of how the meanings seem to me, as a speaker of American English.
  • 02br 02br 00 CJ0-
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15 Answers
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0 Technically 01i00quite02i00 means 01i00completely02i00. This meaning applies more to the negative, where 01i00I'm not quite finished02i00 means 01i00I'm not completely finished02i00, but neither one of these means 01i00*I'm not rather finished02i00. In fact, 01i00rath
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0 Hello CalifJim,02br
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00Thanks for your explanation! 02br
00As I can see, "quite" is much more used that "rather". "Rather" is not much used, is it?02br
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00What about the sentence I wrote at the begining? "It is quite/rather interesting", does "quite" have a negative meaning here?02br
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00Thanks in advance!:D 0
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0 It's not a question of negative meaning. It's whether there is a 01i00not02i00 in the sentence.02br
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00 Your sentences do not contain 01i00not02i00, so they are not negative sentences. 01i00quite02i00 does not necessarily mean 01i00completely02i00 in your sentences. Your sent
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0 Hi everyone,02br
00it seems "quite" is quite a strange word and it's quite difficult to figure out its exact meaning 05002br
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00I once read some discussions about "quite" on the net, and, believe it or not, even native speakers couldn't agree with each other. Some Americans said "quite" doesn't mean "very", and if you say to a cook "This soup is quite goo
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0CalifJim, I think I understood it now!:P Grr..how can I thank you?:D02br
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00Kooyeen, thanks! I thought I was the only one with these kind of doubts (although you don't have them now, you once had them!:P). 0-
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0I think Americans use "rather" like we use "-ish" without being so informal.02br
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01i00It was a rather green color. 02i00(It was greenish. I know that "a rather green" doesn't really parse, but I know I've heard this use, and probably used it myself.)02br
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00Also, there seem to be some differences in word order:02br
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite11i10It was a rather nice day. 12i10For some reason, I wouldn't say "It was a quite nice day" but instead "It was quite a nice day."12blockquote
10Hi, Barb!:D02br
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00So, would "It was rather a nice day" be wrong? 02br
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00Than
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0Not wrong, but not very American sounding. At least, not to this raised-in-New-York American. Sounds to me like someone trying to sound British. "It was a rather nice day" is okay, but "It was rather a nice day" sounds funny - you'd expect the person to reply with a fake British accent as say "Oh, yes, it rahhhthuh was." Maybe New Yorkers are just weird.0-
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0 Ok, got it. 02br
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00To an American I should use "It was a rather nice day" while to a British "It was rather a nice day":).02br
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00Thanks for your help!:D 0-
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0 Heck, Ana - Just say "It was really nice out!"0-
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