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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Quite or Very
Quite or Very
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goodnesses
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Hi, every bod.
I agree all of you may be right in a way or another.
Now, dear colleagues do as if I were a kid of 8 - 9 in your class and try to explain to me what the difference between these sentences is:
1-The red car is quite expensive.
2-The blue one is very expensive.
3-The yellow one is extremely expensive.
because I am sure the point has nothing to do with the fact of being native speaker or not. Because I already hear some native speakers saying "You is a teacher. Where does you work."
Anyway, thanks for your valuable feedback.
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17 Sep 2008
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Zora
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That�s easy... Put up pictures of whatever.. cars for example and their price tags.
Example:
A car for $5000 - would be quite expensive.
A car for $9500 - would be very expensive.
A car for $12,000 - would be extremely expensive.
Also.... any native speakers who speak like that are, in my opinion, uncultured to say the least... and I sincerely hope that they aren�t the ones teaching students.
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17 Sep 2008
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goodnesses
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Ok,
Keeping the order of your examples where would you put the pink car I forgot to tell about and which is expensive. Or how much would it cost, according to you?
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17 Sep 2008
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Zora
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Good question... here actually... I�d put it first... say at $4500 BUT it could also go after the "quite" and then I�d put it at $5,500..
The "quite" is always a bit subjective - in the sense that it could be "Oh, it�s sort of expensive... " which would be the 4,500 example and the... "Oh, it�s a tiny bit more expensive than expensive..." idea would be the 5,500...
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17 Sep 2008
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goodnesses
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As far as I know, "quite" as well as "very", "extremely" and many others are words used to modify the DEGREE or EXTENT of an adjective/adverb. Their meaning follows the meaning of the adjective/adverb they modify negative or positive. However, her, we are using the same adjective "expensive". So, how could "quite expensive" mean less than expensive (1st position �5000 < $5,500) and more than expensive (2nd position �4500 < �5000).
More simply: is "expensive" = �4500 or �5500
Just to remind you, the important point in this topic is the use of "quite".
Hope the discussion will go on.
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17 Sep 2008
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Zora
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Because it could mean that it�s not as expensive as one would expect it to be.... for example, a conversation for this might go.
J: "Hey Tom, did you look at those 4 cars for sale in the newspaper?
T: "Yes, John I did... the first one that I saw was quite expensive but not as expensive as the second... it was 4,500.
J: "Thats not too bad of a price. What about the others?
T" Well, the second car was nice too, but it was more expensive than the first, it was 5, 000."
J: "Hmm... still not too bad, a bit pricey though...and the others that were there?
T: "The third car was fantastic but unfortunately... it was very expensive. I only have 5.500 to spend and I didn�t want to go over that."
J: "Okay.. that�s understandable... but just out of curiousity... what was the last one priced at?
T: "The last one was extremely expensive.... when I was told the price I almost fainted... they wanted 12,000 for it!"
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17 Sep 2008
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goodnesses
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Now thing are clear Zora thanks a lot for being so patient with quite an annoying PP as I.
Hope the discussion will keep on.
Regards
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18 Sep 2008
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Vickiii
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Wow Zora,
What a fantastic explanation!
you is a teacher from a native speaker! - ugh - not even kiwis talk like that! |
18 Sep 2008
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Zora
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lol... Poor kiwis... everybody picks on them!  And thanks, I like to try and explain things... if I can ... and heaven knows this was a challenge since the concept is a bit ambiguous at times. I know that there are rules and such but as you know ... there is always an exception to the rule in English! :P
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18 Sep 2008
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