Usage of pretty, quite, rather, fairly

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Well, these words drive me mad. I don’t know which to choose in these sentence:

  1. She is … stupid, but … good-looking.
    a. quite/ fairly
    b. rather/ fairly
    c. rather/ pretty
    d. pretty/ rather
  2. My rommate is feeling … better today.
    a. pretty
    b. fairly
    c. rather
    d. quite
  3. My patience was … well-exhausted.
    a. pretty
    b. rather
    c. quite
    d. fairly
  4. The book is … too difficult for a child of five to read.
    a. quite
    b. fairly
    c. rather
    d. all are correct
  5. He … understands others.
    a. rather
    b. very
    c. fairly
    d. quite
    And by the way, can you explain the difference of these word’s usage?
    Thank you very much.
2

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How about giving them a try first, Sophie?
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3

Ok, I’ll try first.
I think with comparative adjective (better) and “too” (2,4), we should use “rather”. So the answers for 2 and 4 are c.
With number 5, according to me, the most suitable one is d.
Number 3: a. Because “pretty well” sounds familiar and consonant (intuition).
I have no idea for number 1.
Now I think I need your help.

4

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  1. All of these answers can be considered correct. The only qualification that I can see is that register is sometimes mixed: ‘pretty’ is pretty casual, while 'rather’ is fairly formal.

  2. You are right.

  3. My patience was … well exhausted.-- I agree with you here too, though I can’t explain why D does not work as well.

  4. You are right.

  5. Yes, only D works here. I think that ‘quite’ is the only adverb in the list that modifies verbs.

All in all, a rather confusing test; I am quite tired of thinking about it. I’m fairly sure that the author is not acquainted with American English, which uses ‘pretty’ pretty much all the time.
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5

Thanks.
But could you clarify some problems? I don’t understand what do you mean by: “I’m fairly sure that the author is not acquainted with American English, which uses ‘pretty’ pretty much all the time.”?

6

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I feel that the 1st question has no wrong answers-- but I presume that the author did not. Only ‘pretty’ among the 4 words is casual but common in AmE, so I’m guessing that the author thought ‘pretty’ inappropriate. But it is only a guess.
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7

I’ve got it. Thanks a lot.
So how can we distinguish these words? What’s the difference between them?

8

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There is no simple answer-- at least, not one that I can give you. I have already said that regional use may differ; this is certainly true of ‘quite’. They also fit differently into sentences.

Here are some example sentences showing the variety of uses:

a. pretty

This accident will cost him a pretty sum.
This is a pretty mess!
Her work was pretty good.
The wind blew pretty hard.

b. fairly

a fairly heavy rain.
He slipped off the roof and fairly broke his neck.
The wheels fairly spun.

c. rather

I rather thought you would regret it.
Is the book worth reading? Rather!
It’s rather cold.
It was rather a disaster.

d. quite

  1. completely, wholly, or entirely: quite the reverse; not quite finished.
  2. actually, really, or truly: quite a sudden change.
  3. to a considerable extent or degree: quite small; quite objectionable.

There should be passages on various of these words in your grammar book and at on-line grammar sites.
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