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I'm a bit confused about the use of the intensifiers (pretty, quite, and rather) with gradable adjectives. Some resources state that they weaken the adjectives that follow them, whereas others indicate that they add more strength.

I would appreciate some clarification, especially with the word "quite".

Oc000
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    Does this answer your question? "quite" vs "pretty". Also "Pretty" versus "quite" – FumbleFingers Jul 15 '23 at 13:47
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    Sadly, there's no one answer to this - especially with regard to "quite". It really depends on several things: the context, the intonation, even the regional variety of the English being spoken. There are regional variations in meaning between the US and UK for example. – Billy Kerr Jul 15 '23 at 17:18
  • @BillyKerr - yes. In 'upper class' UK English, 'she is quite beautiful' means 'she is very beautiful indeed; 'the meal was quite perfect' means it was absolutely wonderful in every way, BUT in most varieties, 'quite' can mean 'partially' or even be disguised criticism, e.g. my breakfast egg was quite good. – Michael Harvey Jul 16 '23 at 10:56
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    @MichaelHarvey. My mother, who is a very picky eater, does this frequently after I've cooked something. I'll ask "Did you like it mum?". Then she'll reply "It was quite nice", which actually translates as "I hated it but don't want to hurt your feelings." – Billy Kerr Jul 16 '23 at 12:06
  • Reminds me of an old joke... My girlfriend asked me “Do you think I'm pretty or ugly?” I said ”A bit of both. You're pretty ugly!” – Showsni Jul 16 '23 at 13:44
  • "You don't look at all like I imagined". "What did you think I would look like? Ugly?" "No, quite the opposite." – gnasher729 Jul 16 '23 at 13:47

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It depends very much on the exact situation.

But if you try to get my attention and I say "I'm busy", that means I don't want to be disturbed by you at all. "I'm pretty busy" means I might be able to fit you in, if it is important. "I'm quite busy" means it would be hard to fit you in, if it is really important. Just "I'm busy" means "go away".

In another situation, it may be different. Hard to give a strict rule.

gnasher729
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