Question
Actualizado en
23 mar 2021
- Ruso
-
Inglés (UK)
-
Inglés (US)
-
Alemán
Pregunta de Inglés (UK)
From the staging of "Man and Superman" by Bernard Show: "However, I quite feel that you've all placed yourself in a very painful position." What does "quite" express in this context?
From the staging of "Man and Superman" by Bernard Show: "However, I quite feel that you've all placed yourself in a very painful position." What does "quite" express in this context?
Respuestas
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I feel very much
Or
I strongly feel that
Or
I really feel that
Quite = very / really strong
- Ruso
@AidaRose Hi! First of all, thank you for your answer. Would you be so kind as to elaborate a bit on the various functions of "quite" in British English? (I believe Americans don't use it as much as Brits)
I used to think that it was simply a means to reduce the intensity of a phrase. However, apparently in many contexts it can also act as a sort of intensifier. It is, in any way, dependent on the intonation?
E.g. I quite AGREE with you. vs I QUITE agree with you.
I used to think that it was simply a means to reduce the intensity of a phrase. However, apparently in many contexts it can also act as a sort of intensifier. It is, in any way, dependent on the intonation?
E.g. I quite AGREE with you. vs I QUITE agree with you.
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The examples you provided just now seem to be both the same.
Quite, is an intensifier like you rightly pointed out.
If someone said to me:
The news is depressing.
I can respond simply by saying ‘quite’.
The word quite means extremely so. Definitely so. Or absolutely.
- Ruso
@AidaRose that's QUITE shocking, really :(
Do you mean to say that all my life I've been misunderstanding the way native speakers use 'quite'? So, what would be a 'de-intensifier' then -- 'pretty'?
You are pretty much right. -- you are more or less right, but I'm not sure
You are quite right. -- you're absolutely right
Do you mean to say that all my life I've been misunderstanding the way native speakers use 'quite'? So, what would be a 'de-intensifier' then -- 'pretty'?
You are pretty much right. -- you are more or less right, but I'm not sure
You are quite right. -- you're absolutely right
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The news can be depressing.
My response is ‘perhaps’
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The news can be depressing.
My response is quite = which means absolutely yes you are correct
- Ruso
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Btw, try not to write words in capital letters particularly in-between sentences.
It confuses the person who is reading it.
If you notice from British news articles, if they want to stress a word, they write it in italics.
Capital letters can be a sign that the person doesn’t fluently speak English.
- Ruso
@AidaRose really? wow, I’ve never heard of it. Thanks for the tip!
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- Ruso
@AidaRose yes, but ‘pretty’ can also be used on its own with adjectives, right?
...
That’s quite sad. (very sad)
That’s pretty sad. (relatively sad, but not the end of the world)
...
That’s quite sad. (very sad)
That’s pretty sad. (relatively sad, but not the end of the world)
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Ah yes, when used in this way it is fine and correct.
But let me correct something for you:
Quite sad, in this sentence means you t is relatively/very sad
Pretty sad means it’s absolutely horrendous/ very bad.
So pretty sad is stronger than quite sad, and quite sad is more sympathetic or patronising. Pretty sad is the more extreme of the two versions
- Ruso
@AidaRose well I did intend not just to emphasise the word itself but to imitate the way we stress words with out intonation... but according to what you’ve said it should’ve been done with italics.🙂
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To stress a word, you should italicise it, not capitalise.
If you want to confirm what I’m saying then you should just read some articles from government documents or broadsheets.
They never capitalise words unless it is an acronym.
Capitalising words is something I come across from foreign speakers and it’s a misunderstanding of what’s required to stress a word.
If you capitalise words in an email at work for no reason, it could have the effect of people not liking you because they perceive it as stern.
- Ruso
@AidaRose thank you so much. I think I‘m starting to get the gist of it! Although I definitely still need to practise this specific topic🤪
I’m quite tired. — I’m absolutely tired.
I’m pretty tired. — I’m more or less tired.
He’s quite funny. — he’s relatively funny
He’s pretty funny. — he’s very funny
I’m quite tired. — I’m absolutely tired.
I’m pretty tired. — I’m more or less tired.
He’s quite funny. — he’s relatively funny
He’s pretty funny. — he’s very funny
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@Friedrich338 stressing words also shouldn’t be required too much, because there are adjectives and adverbs which are often used in place instead of the need to stress.
For example, you can read a 1000 page document without a single word being stressed because you do not need to stress anything if you can convey your message using other modifying words which denote the meaning.
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@Friedrich338
The problem with English is that words which mean the opposite, are used to convey another opposite.
You should think in terms of absolute vs relative.
how absolute and how relative is the statement you’re making.
There are many examples to help with this and once you get it, you’d probably feel less confused.
Also, there’s a lot of sarcasm in English. That is a big problem when learning the language.
This morning I was reading a response from someone on Twitter and it’s funny how his sentence makes perfect sense but because I’m a native, I instantly understood that he was being 100% sarcastic.
If you get to the state where you can master the difference between a sarcastic response then you are officially a native English speaker!
- Ruso
@AidaRose correction: a native British English speaker. Americans are not that into sarcasm😂
btw could you share the link to this post on Twitter?
btw could you share the link to this post on Twitter?
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I thought I’d send this table instead which might be of help
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