7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 1/6

1

DEGREE MODIFIERS, MEANING and EXAMPLE

7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 2/6

2

Difference Between Rather, Fairly, Quite, Pretty

Differences between Fairly and Rather 

Read these sentences

  Fiona is fairly clever but Paul is rather stupid.

  The book was fairly interesting but the film was rather boring.

Fairly and rather mean: moderately, not good not bad.

Fairly is used before "positive" adjectives:

  fairly clever 

  fairly interesting

  fairly good

7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 3/6

3

Rather is used before "negative" adjectives:

  rather stupid

  rather boring

  rather bad

Fairly and Rather before 'Neutral' Adjectives 

Let’s look at adjectives like: 

  fast

  hot

  tall

  heavy

These adjectives are neither "positive" nor "negative," they are "neutral." You can use

 both fairly and rather before neutral adjectives, but the meaning is different:

  fairly hot

  rather hot

When you say: "This tea is fairly hot," you imply that you like to drink hot tea. So hot

is "positive" for you.

When you say: "This tea is rather hot," you imply that you don’t like hot tea, or that

this tea is too hot for you to drink. So hot is "negative" for you.

Rather before 'Positive' Adjectives 

To make things more complicated rather can also be used before "positive"

adjectives:

  Fiona is rather clever.

  Paul is rather tall.

Fiona is rather clever means almost the same as Fiona is very clever. Rather clever is

much more of a compliment than fairly clever .

7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 4/6

4

Summary – Fairly, Rather and Pretty 

Use fairly:

   before a "positive" adjective; it means moderately, not good not bad –   Fiona is

 fairly clever. 

   before a "neutral" adjective; speaker shows approval – I drink my tea fairly hot. 

Use rather:

   before a "negative" adjective; it means moderately, not good not bad – This

 book is rather boring.

   before a "neutral" adjective, speaker shows disapproval – This tea is rather hot.

   before a "positive" adjective; it means very – Fiona is rather clever.

   before verbs of feeling and thought it means very  – I rather like tea. 

Pretty is similar to rather but used in informal language and is never used before

verbs:

  This book is rather boring – This book is pretty boring

  This tea is rather hot – This tea is pretty hot

  Fiona is rather clever  – Fiona is pretty clever 

How to Use Quite 

Quite is a little stronger in meaning than fairly and is used before "positive"' and

"negative" adjectives:

  quite clever 

  quite stupid

  quite hot

Quite is often used before non-gradable adjectives. A non-gradable adjective cannot

 be used to say that something is more or less e.g. a glass cannot be more empty or 

less empty. An animal cannot be more dead or less dead.

  Quite used before non-gradable adjectives means completely – The bottle was

quite empty.

  Quite used before gradable adjectives weakens the adjective – Her English is

quite good.

7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 5/6

5

Quite used before non-gradable adjectives often provides emphasis:

  Fiona: Sorry, the bottle is empty.

  Paul: Oh surely there's just a drop more...?

  Fiona, turning the bottle upside down: No, really, it's quite empty.

Differences Between Fairly, Quite, Rather and Pretty 

  Fiona is fairly clever. (I’m not so happy now. It means that Fiona is moderately

clever.)

  Fiona is quite clever. (This also means that Fiona is moderately clever, but quite

suggests a higher degree than fairly)

  Fiona is clever. (That’s what I like people to say!)

  Fiona is rather clever. (I’m happy now. It means Fiona is very clever.) 

  Fairly – Fiona speaks French fairly well

  Quite – Fiona speaks French quite well

  Rather  – Fiona speaks French rather well

  Pretty – Her French is pretty good

7/28/2019 Degree Modifiers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/degree-modifiers 6/6

6

Intensificadores de Adjetivos

very (véri) - muy

so (sóu) - tan

too (tchú) - demasiado

quite (kuáit) - bastante, completamente

pretty (príti) - bastante

fairly (férli) - bastante

somewhat (sám-wat) - algo; un tanto

rather (ráder) - más bien, algo, bastante, un poco

a little (a lítl) - un poco

enough (inóf) - suficiente(mente) 

such (sách) - tal / tales / tan