[Vocabulary] English is Fine/Good

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patran

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Hi Teachers

When a British says somebody's spoken English is "Fine", how far is it is from "Good" or "Very Good" or "Native"? I would like to seek some generic comments.

Regards

Anthony the learner
 

5jj

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When a British person says somebody's spoken English is "Fine", how far is it is from "Good" or "Very Good" or "Native"?
'Fine' is not a point on a fixed scale. It means something like ' acceptable' or 'good enough'.
 

Raymott

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Hi Teachers

When a British says somebody's spoken English is "Fine", how far is it is from "Good" or "Very Good" or "Native"? I would like to seek some generic comments.

Regards

Anthony the learner
By the way, it's not used in a question, as in "Is my English fine? Is this grammar fine?"
Well, it is often used this way by learners here. I mean native speakers don't use it this way.

A: "How do I look?"
B: "You look fine" - OK

A: "Do I look fine?" - Not OK
 

5jj

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By the way, it's not used in a question, as in "Is my English fine? Is this grammar fine?"
It's also not used in negative utterances.

A: What do you think about my last paragraph?
B. It's fine. OK

B: It isn't fine. Not OK
 

Chicken Sandwich

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It's also not used in negative utterances.

A: What do you think about my last paragraph?
B. It's fine. OK

B: It isn't fine. Not OK

And what about this exchange:

A: What do you think about my last paragraph?
B: It's fine.
C: No it isn't.

C is not repeating "fine", but he is saying that the last paragraph isn't fine. Is C's response natural?
 

Rover_KE

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Yes, it is.

Rover
 
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