a pretty pretty

[shabushabu]

Hi,

Do native speakers say "She's a pretty pretty."?

Thanks

 

[Raymott]

Hi,

Do native speakers say "She's a pretty pretty."?
Thanks

No. What would it mean? "She's pretty pretty" makes sense, meaning she's rather pretty, but no one would say this unless they were being silly.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi,

Do native speakers say "She's a pretty pretty."?

Thanks

What do you think that it would mean if someone said it? Bear in mind that you have used the indefinite article so you have "indefinite article + adjective + noun". What do you think "a pretty" is?

 

[Matthew Wai]

"She's pretty ugly."
Does it mean "she's rather ugly"? Is it self-contradictory to say "pretty ugly"?

 

[emsr2d2]

"She's pretty ugly."
Does it mean "she's rather ugly"? Is it self-contradictory to say "pretty ugly"?

No, that's fine. "Pretty" can mean "quite" or "rather". That's why Raymott suggested that it is possible to say "She is pretty pretty" but it would probably only be said by someone being silly.

 

[Tdol]

It is fine, but you could easily use an alternative to pretty that avoids any strangeness if it sounds odd to you.