'Quite', 'Pretty', 'Rather', 'Fairly'

B1 Intermediate

These adverbs of degree modify adjectives and adverbs to indicate a level between 'a little' and 'very'. They help speakers express nuance regarding intensity and expectation.

Overview

These words are used to qualify the strength of an adjective or adverb. While they all occupy a middle ground of intensity, they differ in register and tone. Quite and rather are common in British English, while pretty is more frequent in informal American English. Fairly is generally the weakest of the four.

Nuances of Meaning

Note that rather can suggest a degree of surprise or criticism, such as 'The film was rather long' or 'It is rather warm for October.'

Word	Intensity	Typical Usage
Fairly	Moderate	Suggests 'enough' but not remarkably so.
Quite	Medium-High	Stronger than fairly; can mean 'completely' with non-gradable adjectives.
Rather	Medium-High	Often used for negative qualities or unexpected positive ones.
Pretty	Medium-High	Informal; similar in strength to quite.

Word Order with Articles

Modifier + (a/an) + Adjective + Noun

When using these modifiers with a noun phrase (adjective + noun), the position of the indefinite article 'a/an' changes depending on the modifier used.

Examples in Context

Common mistakes

It was a quite cold day.
It was quite a cold day.
'Quite' usually comes before the indefinite article 'a/an'.
The food was fairly delicious.
The food was quite delicious.
'Fairly' is not used with 'extreme' or non-gradable adjectives like delicious or amazing.

Practice

Complete the sentence with the correct word order: It was ___ (nice / a / quite) surprise.
Show answer
quite a nice
Answer:quite a nice
Why:'Quite' precedes the indefinite article 'a' when modifying a noun phrase.
Which word is most appropriate for a negative criticism? 'The room was ___ small.'
Show answer
rather
Answer:rather
Why:'Rather' is frequently used to express disappointment or a negative quality.
True or False: 'Pretty' is more formal than 'Rather'.
Show answer
False
Answer:False
Why:'Pretty' is informal and common in spoken English, whereas 'rather' is more formal.