UNIT 103 Quite and rather

A. Quite = less than 'very' but more than 'a little':

* I'm surprised you haven't heard of her. She's quite famous. (= less than 'very famous' but more than 'a little famous')

* It's quite cold. You'd better wear your coat.

* Lucy lives quite near me, so we see each other quite often.

Quite goes before a/an:

quite a nice day (not 'a quite nice day'), quite an old house, quite a long way

Sometimes we use quite + noun (without an adjective):

* I didn't expect to see them. It was quite a surprise.

We also use quite with some verbs, especially like and enjoy:

* I quite like tennis but it's not my favourite sport.

Quite sometimes means 'completely'. See Section C.

B. Rather is similar to quite. We use rather mainly with negative words and negative ideas:

* It's rather cold. You'd better wear your coat.

* 'What was the examination like?' 'Rather difficult, I'm afraid.'

* Let's get a taxi. It's rather a long way to walk.

Quite is also possible in these examples.

Often we use quite with a positive idea and rather with a negative idea:

* She's 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 oranges are rather nice. Where did you get them?

* Ann didn't like the book but I thought it was rather interesting. (=more interesting than expected)

Rather can go before or after a/an. So you can say:

a rather interesting book or rather an interesting book

C. Quite also means 'completely'. For example:

* 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, quite sure.' (= completely sure)

Quite means 'completely' with a number of adjectives, especially:

[sure, right, true, clear, different, incredible, amazing, certain, wrong, safe, obvious, unnecessary, extraordinary, impossible]

* She was quite different from what I expected. (= completely different)

* Everything they said was quite true. (= completely true)

We also use quite (='completely') with some verbs. For example:

* I quite agree with you. (= I completely agree) Not quite = 'not completely':

* They haven't quite finished their dinner yet.

* I don't quite understand what you mean.

* 'Are you ready yet?' 'Not quite.' (= not completely)

@p207

EXERCISES

103.1 Complete the sentences using quite + one of the following:

a busy day a good voice a nice time a lot of mistakes a nice day a long way a strong wind a frightening experience

1. The weather was better than we had expected. It was _quite a nice day._

2. Tom often sings. He's got ---.

3. The bus stop wasn't very near the hotel. We had to walk ---.

4. I'm tired. I've had ---.

5. Our holiday was OK. We had ---.

6. It's warm today but there's ---.

7. 1 hope that never happens again. It was ---.

8. She speaks English fluently but she makes ---.

103.2 Complete these sentences using the words in brackets. Each time use quite with the positive word and rather with the negative word.

1. She's _quite intelligent_ but _rather lazy._ (intelligent/lazy)

2. The car goes --- but it's ---. (well/noisy)

3. The programme was --- but ---. (long/interesting)

4. George is --- but he's ---. (a hard worker/slow)

5. I was --- with the hotel but Jim was ---. (disappointed/pleased)

6. It's --- job but it's --- work. (a well-paid/hard)

7. Sarah lives --- us but it's --- to get to her house. (near/difficult)

103.3 What does quite mean in these sentences? Tick (V) the right meaning.

(more than a little, less than very (Section A)), (completely (Section C))

1. It's _quite cold._ You'd better wear your coat.

2. 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, _quite sure._'

3. Maria's English is _quite good._ ( ), ( )

4. I couldn't believe it. It was _quite incredible._

5. The people I work with are _quite friendly._

6. My bedroom is _quite big._

7. You're _quite right._

103.4 Complete these sentences using quite with one of the following:

amazing different impossible right safe sure unnecessary true

1. I didn't believe her at first, but in fact what she said was _quite true._

2. You won't fall. The ladder is ---.

3. I'm afraid I can't do what you ask. It's ---.

4. I couldn't agree with you more. You are ---.

5. You can't compare the two things. They are ---.

6. You needn't have done that. It was ---.

7. 1 think I saw them go out but I'm not ---.

8. I couldn't believe what had happened. It was ---.

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Date: 2015-12-11; view: 512