When to use words quite, rather, pretty, fairly etc: degree of downtoning
Is there any logic to this or just decision? I would use the following combinations:
- quite amazing
- rather large
- pretty good
I would not use the following combinations:
- pretty amazing
- quite large
- rather good
There're also the words pretty and fairly and of course we say "pretty good" instead of quite good/rather good. Is there any grammar rule that states which word to select to give strength to an adjective without depending on the adjective for no appearant reason?
I think "quite amazing" is an oxymoron; something can't be "mildly greatly surprising."
There is another issue here: Quite can mean both totally and mildly. So in your example "quite amazing" would be better expressed as "mildly surprising" or awesome.
For example:
My aunt is quite mad. [Is she a little bit eccentric or totally insane?]
Either way in the case of "quite amazing" both meanings: "totally greatly surprising" and "mildly greatly surprising" make no sense.
Ok, I will take a crack at this:
quite is good for expressing mild suprise at the extent/size: "I was quite pleased by the reception I received there."
rather is a more posh version of quite.
pretty, on the other hand, is to express faint enthusiasm: "I had a pretty good time, I might go there again sometime."
fairly is even a bit less enthusiastic than pretty.
Each can be used, more or less ironically, for the opposite effect, though.
Strunk & White's rather delicious little subtlety:
Rather, very, little, pretty – these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one and we are all pretty sure to violate it now and then
Some of them have differences of strengths, for instance, if something were described as "pretty large" or "fairly large" I would interpret as less large than something described as "quite large" or "rather large".
"Rather" sometimes has a slight connotation of unexpected, so if something was somewhat larger than expected I would prefer to use "rather large" than the others.
These preferences may vary from region to region and even person to person though.