Quite and rather^0^

[q_sharon]

:itshere:

A. Quite means less than very but more than "a little":

I am surprised you haven't heard of him. He's quite famous. (less than very famous but more than a little famous.


Quite goes before a or an:

quite a nice day
quite an old house
quite a long way

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


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


B. Rather is similar to quite but we use rather mainly with negative words and ideas.


It's rather cold,so you'd better wear your coat.

We often use quite with a positive idea and rather with a negative idea.

She's quite smart but rather lazy

C. When we use rather with positive words (nice,interesting,etc),it means unusually or surprisingly.

rather nice = unusually nice/surprisingly nice/nicer than expected

D. Rather can go before or after a/an:

a rather interesting book or rather than an interesting book

E. Quite can also mean "completely"

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

Quite means completely with a number of adjectives, especially:

sure
right
true
unnecessary
different
amazing
certain
wrong
safe
extraordinary
impossible
amazed

Source: English Grammar in Use by R.Murphy