Appearance
Unit 104 — quite, pretty, rather and fairly
A. Quite and pretty
Quite and pretty are similar in meaning:
= less than very, but more than a little
也就是说，quite / pretty 通常表示：
相当、颇、挺……
程度上：
a little < quite / pretty < very
1. quite / pretty + adjective / adverb
I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her. She’s quite famous. or She’s pretty famous. (= less than ‘very famous’, but more than ‘a little famous’)
（我很惊讶你没听说过她。她相当有名。）
Anna lives quite near me, so we see each other pretty often. （Anna 住得离我很近，所以我们经常见面。）
这里：
quite famous
pretty famous
quite near
pretty often
都表示“相当…… / 挺……”。
2. pretty 更口语化
Pretty is an informal word and is used mainly in spoken English.
也就是说：
pretty = 比较口语化
例如日常对话：
It’s pretty good.
挺不错的。
I’m pretty tired.
我挺累的。
It’s pretty expensive.
它挺贵的。
1. quite + a/an
Quite goes before a/an:
quite + a/an + adjective + noun
例如：
- We live in quite an old house. （我们住在一栋相当老的房子里。）
not:
❌ a quite old house
正确顺序：
✅ quite an old house
4. quite 和 pretty 的词序不同
Compare:
Sarah has quite a good job.
Sarah 有一份相当不错的工作。
但是：
Sarah has a pretty good job.
Sarah 有一份挺不错的工作。
所以：
quite + a/an + adjective + noun
而：
a/an + pretty + adjective + noun
对比：
quite a good job
a pretty good job
2. quite a/an + noun
You can also use quite (but not pretty) in the following ways:
quite a/an + noun （without an adjective）
例如：
I didn’t expect to see them. It was quite a surprise. (= quite a big surprise)
（我没想到会见到他们。真是相当令人意外。）
这里没有形容词：
quite a surprise
也完全正确。
3. quite a lot (of ...)
可以使用：
quite a lot
quite a lot of + noun
例如：
- There were quite a lot of guests at the wedding. （婚礼上有相当多的客人。）
常见表达：
quite a lot of people
quite a lot of money
quite a lot of time
quite a lot of work
4. quite + verb
Quite can also be used before a verb, especially:
like
enjoy
例如：
- I quite like tennis, but it’s not my favourite sport. （我挺喜欢网球，但它不是我最喜欢的运动。）
类似：
I quite like this restaurant.
我挺喜欢这家餐厅。
I quite enjoy my job.
我挺喜欢我的工作。
这里通常表示：
喜欢，但没有达到 really like / love 的程度。
5. B. Rather
Rather is similar to quite and pretty.
rather ≈ quite ≈ pretty
通常可以理解为：
相当 / 颇 / 挺
6. rather 常用于负面意思
We often use rather for negative ideas:
things we think are not good
例如：
The weather isn’t so good. It’s rather cloudy. （天气不太好。相当阴。）
Paul is rather shy. He doesn’t talk very much. （Paul 相当害羞。他话不多。）
在这些例子中，也可以使用 quite：
It’s quite cloudy.
Paul is quite shy.
7. rather + positive adjective
当 rather 和正面意义的词一起使用，例如：
good
nice
它通常带有：
unusually
或者：
surprisingly
即：
出乎意料地 / 比预想中更……
例如：
- These oranges are rather good. Where did you get them? （这些橙子相当不错啊。你在哪里买的？）
这里的 rather good 带有一种：
“比我想象的要好。”
的感觉。
8. C. Fairly
Fairly is weaker than quite / rather / pretty.
程度大致可以理解为：
fairly < quite / pretty / rather < very
fairly 通常表示：
还算…… / 比较…… / 尚可……
语气没有 quite / pretty / rather 那么强。
9. fairly + adjective/adverb
For example, if something is fairly good, it is:
not very good and it could be better
也就是：
还不错，但谈不上“非常好”。
例如：
My room is fairly big, but I’d prefer a bigger one. （我的房间还算大，但我希望有个更大的。）
We see each other fairly often, but not as often as we used to. （我们见面还算频繁，但没有以前那么频繁了。）
程度比较
可以粗略理解成：
fairly good 还算不错
quite good / pretty good 相当不错 / 挺不错
very good 非常好
10. D. Quite = completely
前面我们学习的 quite 通常表示：
相当 / 挺
但是 quite 还有另外一个非常重要的意思：
completely
即：
完全地 / 完全
11. quite sure = completely sure
例如：
‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yes, quite sure.’ (= completely sure)
“你确定吗？” “是的，完全确定。”
这里：
quite sure
不是：
“比较确定”
而是：
完全确定
12. 经常与 quite 搭配表示 completely 的形容词
Quite means completely with a number of adjectives, especially:
| Adjective | Meaning |
|---|---|
| sure | 确定的 |
| certain | 确定的 |
| right | 正确的 |
| wrong | 错误的 |
| true | 真实的 |
| safe | 安全的 |
| clear | 清楚的 |
| obvious | 明显的 |
| different | 不同的 |
| unnecessary | 不必要的 |
| incredible | 难以置信的 |
| extraordinary | 非凡的 |
| amazing | 惊人的 |
| impossible | 不可能的 |
例如：
She was quite different from what I expected. (= completely different)
（她和我想象的完全不同。）
Everything they said was quite true. (= completely true)
（他们说的一切完全属实。）
13. quite + verb = completely
We also use quite (= completely) with some verbs.
例如：
I quite agree with you. (= I completely agree)
（我完全同意你的看法。）
这里：
quite agree
不是“比较同意”，而是：
完全同意
14. not quite = not completely
这是非常常用的表达：
not quite = not completely
可以理解为：
不完全 / 还没有完全 / 还差一点
例如：
- I don’t quite understand what you mean. （我不完全明白你的意思。）
更自然地可以翻译成：
我不太明白你的意思。
对话：
‘Are you ready yet?’ ‘Not quite.’
“你准备好了吗？”
“还没有完全准备好 / 还差一点。”
15. quite 的两个意思
Compare the two meanings of quite:
quite = fairly / rather
The story is quite interesting. (= less than ‘very interesting’)
（这个故事相当有趣。）
这里：
quite interesting
程度低于：
very interesting
quite = completely
The story is quite true. (= completely true)
（这个故事完全是真的。）
这里：
quite true
表示：
completely true
16. quite 的意思为什么会变化？
关键取决于它后面的形容词。
对于普通的“程度型形容词”：
interesting good big expensive difficult
quite 通常表示：
相当 / 挺
例如：
quite interesting
相当有趣
quite good
相当不错
quite expensive
挺贵的
而对于具有比较明确“完整状态”的形容词：
sure certain right wrong true different impossible
quite 经常表示：
completely
例如：
quite sure 完全确定
quite impossible 完全不可能
quite different 完全不同
quite wrong 完全错误
17. quite / pretty / rather / fairly 对比
| Word | 常见含义 | 语气/特点 | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| fairly | 还算、比较 | 程度较弱 | fairly good |
| quite | 相当、挺 | 中等程度 | quite good |
| pretty | 挺、相当 | 非正式、口语常用 | pretty good |
| rather | 相当、颇 | 常用于负面或出乎意料 | rather strange |
| very | 非常 | 程度强 | very good |
可以粗略建立程度感：
a little → fairly → quite / pretty / rather → very
但这不是绝对的数学等级，实际强弱会受到语境、语调和搭配影响。
18. 日常口语中的 pretty
在日常英语中，pretty + adjective 非常常见。
例如：
I’m pretty tired.
我挺累的。
It’s pretty good.
挺不错的。
It’s pretty expensive.
挺贵的。
That’s pretty interesting.
那个挺有意思的。
I’m pretty sure.
我很确定 / 我基本确定。
所以口语中看到：
pretty
不要总是理解成：
漂亮的
它作为副词时经常表示：
quite / fairly
19. 常见结构总结
quite
quite + adjective/adverb
- quite famous
- quite near
- quite interesting
quite + a/an + adjective + noun
- quite a good job
- quite an old house
quite + a/an + noun
- quite a surprise
quite a lot of + noun
- quite a lot of people
quite + verb
- quite like
- quite enjoy
- quite agree
pretty
pretty + adjective/adverb
- pretty famous
- pretty good
- pretty often
如果后面有单数可数名词：
a/an + pretty + adjective + noun
例如：
a pretty good job
rather
rather + adjective/adverb
例如：
rather cloudy
rather shy
rather good
fairly
fairly + adjective/adverb
例如：
fairly big
fairly often
fairly good
20. 最终思维模型
这四个词都可以表示某种“程度”，但语感不同。
fairly
想表达：
还算……，但没有特别……
使用：
fairly
例如：
The movie was fairly good.
电影还算不错。
quite
想表达：
相当 / 挺……
使用：
quite
例如：
The movie was quite good.
电影相当不错。
但要特别注意：
quite sure / quite true / quite different
这里的 quite 经常表示：
completely
pretty
日常口语中想自然地表达：
挺…… / 蛮…… / 相当……
可以使用：
pretty
例如：
It’s pretty good.
挺不错的。
I’m pretty tired.
我挺累的。
rather
当事情带有：
负面感觉
或者：
出乎意料
时，经常使用：
rather
例如：
It’s rather cold today.
今天相当冷。
The food was rather good.
这个食物出乎意料地不错。
最值得记住的几个固定结构：
quite a good job
a pretty good job
quite a lot of
quite like / quite enjoy
quite sure = completely sure
not quite = not completely
以及口语中非常高频的：
pretty good
pretty nice
pretty tired
pretty sure