Quiet vs quite - what's the difference?
Quiet (adjective/noun) - making little or no noise; calm:"The library is very quiet." (adjective)"Please keep quiet during the exam." (adjective)"I need some peace and quiet." (noun)Quite (adverb) - fairly, rather, or completely (depending on context):"The film was quite good." (fairly good - not...
Quiet (adjective/noun) - making little or no noise; calm:
"The library is very quiet." (adjective)
"Please keep quiet during the exam." (adjective)
"I need some peace and quiet." (noun)
Quite (adverb) - fairly, rather, or completely (depending on context):
"The film was quite good." (fairly good - not outstanding)
"I'm quite sure about this." (completely sure - British English)
"It was quite a surprise." (rather significant)
The British English trap
- Before gradable adjectives: quite cold = moderately cold (not very)
- Before absolute adjectives: quite certain = completely certain
So "I'm quite tired" = somewhat tired, but "I'm quite exhausted" = completely exhausted.
Common mistake (ESL)
"Please be quite." β β "Please be quiet." β
"It was a quite place." β β "It was a quiet place." β
Memory trick
Quiet has the word quit in it - stop talking, quit the noise.
What does "Quiet vs quite - what's the difference?" mean?
Quiet (adjective/noun) - making little or no noise; calm:"The library is very quiet." (adjective)"Please keep quiet during the exam." (adjective)"I need some peace and quiet." (noun)Quite (adverb) - fairly, rather, or completely (depending on context):"The film was quite good." (fairly good - not...
Mixing up similar words is one of the most common learner mistakes.
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