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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Check my explanation
Check my explanation
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Pretty3
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Check my explanation
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Dear members :
Can you check my explanation for the adverb: quite
Does it always mean a little before the adjectives and mean completely before the verbs??
e.g.
I quite like steak.
I am a student at quite a big school.
This explanantion confused me:
Wating to hear from you
:) |
4 Feb 2013
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yanogator
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I would say "no" and "no" to your questions.
If I understand BrE as I think I do, "I quite like steak" means more than a little, but not all the way to "completely". In the US, we would probably say "I like steak a lot". I could be wrong about this, though.
"quite a big school" means a very big school, not "a little" as you thought.
It is quite cold today = It is very cold today.
Bruce |
4 Feb 2013
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Pretty3
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Thank you for your reply.
II hate that word.
How does it mean very and it makes the meaning of the adjectives weaker?!!! |
4 Feb 2013
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yanogator
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It doesn �t make the meaning of the adjectives weaker. It �s no wonder this is confusing you. You have gotten some bad information somewhere.
Bruce |
4 Feb 2013
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yanogator
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Thanks, Jayho. I didn �t know that BrE and AmE differed on that.In the US, "It was quite easy" means "It was very easy". Not so in England. There it seems to be the equivalent of the US "It was pretty easy". Bruce. |
4 Feb 2013
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MoodyMoody
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I really can �t add much to Bruce �s explanation. In the affirmative (not negative), I would usually use quite only before adjectives or adverbs, meaning very or extremely. "I am quite certain that I paid my electric bill last month." "English and French form negatives quite differently."
For verbs, I would usually use quite in the negative. "I don �t quite understand how British English uses �quite � differently." (Notice the single quotes. I do not mean very differently here; the quotations mean that I am treating "quite" as any word. If you know the term "meta-linguistic," that is how I am treating "quite.") |
4 Feb 2013
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Jayho
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Well, actually Bruce, I �m quite confused. Sometimes these issues really make me think and ponder and then I don �t know because downunder we use a mish mash of SAE and SBE
We probably need a true Brit to comment on using quite as a �mitigator � rather than as an intensifier.
Cheers
Jayho |
4 Feb 2013
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