Talk:somewhat

Quite and somewhat have very similar meaning for many British people. North Americans are often missing this meaning for quite. This usage note is from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

In British English, using quite suggests you are not very enthusiastic about something. In American English, quite is a stronger way of qualifying an adjective. In both British and American English, the way you say the word is important. In British English, if you say It was quite good and you put the emphasis on the quite , you mean it was good, but not very good. If you put the emphasis on good , you mean it was very good. In British English, when it is used with adjectives like impossible or unacceptable , it means completely , and you put the emphasis on it. In American English, the emphasis is always on the adjective that goes with quite.

I was already aware that "quite" is sometimes a synonym for "somewhat"; perhaps I sometimes use it that way myself -- I'm not sure. I just thought it would be confusing to list it since that may not be its primary meaning (apparently, according to the above, maybe not even in British English). --Coppertwig 13:59, 11 August 2007 (UTC)