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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

When do you use quite and when a quite

Hi, please tell me why " That is a quite different matter" is correct and " That is quite different matter" isn't? Is there any rule about this? Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

"That is quite a different matter" is more idiomatic than "That is a quite different matter". In the sense you're using it, "matter" is countable ("a matter" = "a subject/thing/affair"), so an article is necessary. "matter" can also be uncountable, referring to physical substance (as in "everything is made of matter"), so "That is quite different matter" is actually grammatical, though rather an unusual thing to want to say.

— Mr Wordy

  • "That is quite a different matter" is more idiomatic than "That is a quite different matter".
  • In the sense you're using it, "matter" is countable ("a matter" = "a subject/thing/affair"), so an article is necessary.
  • "matter" can also be uncountable, referring to physical substance (as in "everything is made of matter"), so "That is quite different matter" is actually grammatical, though rather an unusual thing to want to say.
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2 Answers
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"That is quite a different matter" is more idiomatic than "That is a quite different matter".

In the sense you're using it, "matter" is countable ("a matter" = "a subject/thing/affair"), so an article is necessary.

"matter" can also be uncountable, referring to physical substance (as in "everything is made of matter"), so "That is quite different matter" is actual
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As an aside, I recall that some of my school mates up through high school often added a second "a," where one clearly did not belong:

"I've seen a quite a lot of cockroaches around here lately!"
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