her English is quite good

[GoodTaste]

Does "her English is quite good" mean "her English is very good"? Cambridge Dictionary says "quite" means "completely". But no one's English can be completely good. To err is human, after all. Let alone Siri is still not human.

================
How can I use Siri to learn English?
Siri may not be human, but her English is quite good! If you have a Samsung phone, you can try these with Bixby too. Since I have an iPod, I have used Siri.


While her conversation skills are limited, there are many ways Siri can help you learn and practice English. Let’s look at some examples.

Source: Making Sense of English
https://www.apoven.com/siri-english-learning/

 

[tedmc]

The word "quite" doesn't mean much. It is said when one is not sure about the degree or extent of an attribute. I would say "quite good" is "above average" and "very good" is "excellent".

 

[Skrej]

It's somewhat subjective. I'd take it to mean something like 'surprisingly good' or 'pretty good'. To me, 'quite' usually carries an element of unexpected positiveness.

I've always considered the expression more of a BrE one, but Ngrams show a steady climb in AmE. This Ngram shows that the expression historically was used much more in BrE than AmE for about a hundred years. By the turn of the 21st century, usage had almost equalized. The corpora are 8 years old though, and if the trend continues, it seems like usage was starting to diverge and to head back to a more historical distribution.

I always wonder at the historical context behind these usage trends Ngrams show us. Why the massive spike in BrE usage at the turn of the 20th century, then a plunge 50 years later?

 

[TheParser]

Does "her English is quite good" mean "her English is very good"?

NOT A TEACHER


Good Taste, I thought that you might like to know the opinion of a respected American author: "To say that something is quite good is a compliment in AmE but nearly the opposite in BrE."

My source gives this example: An American businessman wrote a British gentleman that "I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." The latter thought that the former was using the word "quite" to mean "fairly." He was relieved when he learned that Americans use "quite" to mean "very."


Source: Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (1998 edition), page 549.

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, it depends on context and, sometimes, on the adjective it's attached to. It's a little old-fashioned but you might hear/read "I love that! It's quite beautiful!" There, with the stress on "quite", it would be taken to mean "very beautiful". However, if you hear "It's quite nice", it would be a very middle-of-the-road compliment.

 

[Tdol]

It's not brilliant, but it is good enough to do things with it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

As an American, I agree with you, Good. In that sentence, quite means very.

It's interesting to discover that it can cut the other way in British English: somewhat or almost. In the US, if we meant that, we'd say not quite!

 

[SoothingDave]

I don't see how "quite" is supposed to mean "completely." That doesn't seem right.

 

[GoesStation]

I don't see how "quite" is supposed to mean "completely." That doesn't seem right.

I'm quite sure that it can.

 

[Tdol]

I don't see how "quite" is supposed to mean "completely." That doesn't seem right.

If something is quite brilliant, it is utterly brilliant. In BrE, quite + non-gradable adjective = utterly, etc.