Rather, pretty, fairly and quite

Question

Hei!I am investigating adverbial intensifiers and need to test native speakers of English. The following sentences lack a word. Simple write rather, fairly , pretty or quite where you feel it fits best. The more answers I get, the better.1. I was _____ surprised to see him with his ex-wife.2. He was limping _____ badly.3. I got a letter from Sylvia _____ recently.4. The food in the cafeteria is usually ____ good.5. She still looks _____ miserable.6. I’m_____ sure he’ll say yes.7. The house had a _____ large garden.8. She speaks English _____ well.Could you also specify your age and the country of origin?Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

What do we do if there are 2 or more words we would use equally often to fill in the blanks, but perhaps in different circumstances (formal, informal) or for different emphasis?
EDIT: Have you looked in COCA for differences in the phrases?

Anonymous · Answer

I can investigate the uses with the help of a corpus, but I need to compare the results of my corpus-based investigation with the way the words are used by native speakers. If you have several variants, you can propose all of them.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I am investigating adverbial intensifiers and need to test native speakers of English. The following sentences lack a word. Simple write rather, fairly , pretty or quite where you feel it fits best. The more answers I get, the better.

1. I was _rather, fairly , pretty or quite
_ surprised to see him with his ex-wife.

2. He was limping _rather, fairly , pretty or quite
_ badly.

3. I got a letter from Sylvia _fairly , pretty or quite
_ recently.

4. The food in the cafeteria is usually _rather, fairly , pretty or quite
_ good.

5. She still looks _rather, fairly , pretty or quite
_ miserable.

6. I’m_fairly , pretty or quite
_ sure he’ll say yes.

7. The house had a rather, fairly , pretty or quite
__ large garden.

8. She speaks English _rather, fairly , pretty or quite
_ well.

Could you also specify your age No

and the country of origin? Canada / Britain

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

RATHER, FAIRLY , PRETTY, QUITE, VERY are intensifiers, they are used to grade a person's work, a restaurant, food, a drink or anything your heart desires.
e.g. You went to a restaurant and you didn't like the food, you say it was RATHER good, meaning you will NEVER go back, if you say it is it was PRETTY good, it means you might try it again, and of course if you say VERY GOOD, it means you liked it and not only will you go back to that restaurant, you will recommend it.
Teacher Lupita Garcia Prieto Golovchikoff
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Anonymous · Answer

I HAVE CHECKED MY NOTES & PROOFREAD BEFORE SUBMITTING TO MODERATION

I just learned something about "quite."

I read in a book written by a British gentleman that:

It was quite good = "It was very good" in the

United States, and "It was not very good" in the

United Kingdom. I was astounded to learn that.

I hope that I am reporting accurately what he wrote.

If I misinterpreted his words, I apologize and ask the

moderator to delete this post. I do not want to give

misleading information.

Thank you

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I don't quite agree with that opinion.

The British, for example, enjoy understatement.

eg Tom trains for 10 years in the 100 metres, goes to the Olympics, runs the best race of his life, and wins the Gold Medal for Britain.
Interviewer: Tom, that was a fantastic race. You ran your heart out.
Tom: Yes, it was quite good.

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

rather, fairly , pretty or quite

1. I was __ surprised to see him with his ex-wife. quite
2. He was limping __ badly. pretty
3. I got a letter from Sylvia __ recently. fairly
4. The food in the cafeteria is usually __ good. pretty
5. She still looks __ miserable. pretty
6. I’m__ sure he’ll say yes. pretty
7. The house had a __ large garden. fairly
8. She speaks English __ well.[/quote] pretty

Age: slightly younger than my nose

Origin: U.S. of A.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousIt was quite good = "It was very good" in the
United States, and "It was not very good" in the
United Kingdom.

I'm not sure if these paraphrases capture the exact difference, but I've always noticed some kind of difference between the US and the UK when it comes to "quite". I don't believe it's universal, though. Sometimes a speaker from the US will use "quite" in a somewhat British sort of way (quite good = passably good without being outstanding).

To me, an American, "quite" means 'completely', 'entirely', whether in the affirmative or the negative. I think it has this meaning for the British only in the negative.

Whether the British usage truly means 'completely', 'entirely' even in the affirmative, but is used ironically, or whether the British usage signals a truly different meaning ('passably') in the British mind is not for me to say, though I suspect the latter.

CJ

LouiseT · Answer

I think you need to hear the phrase spoken to understand the meaning of "quite" from a British person. There can also be other words in the sentence that tell you if the person is being positive or negative.

For example in response to "did you like the meal/ the film?"

It was really quite good - is positive.
It was quite good. - Whether this is positive or negative will depend on the tone of voice, facial expression etc.

LouiseT · Answer

1. I was __ surprised to see him with his ex-wife. rather/quite
2. He was limping __ badly. fairly/pretty
3. I got a letter from Sylvia __ recently. quite
4. The food in the cafeteria is usually __ good. rather /quite
5. She still looks __ miserable. pretty/rather
6. I'm__ sure he'll say yes. fairly /quite
7. The house had a __ large garden. rather / pretty
8. She speaks English __ well. fairly / quite

Could you also specify your age very young grandma and the country of origin? England

Rather, pretty, fairly and quite

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