hey there Michelle how's it going today hey Lindsay I'm good I'm good how are you
doing I am fantastic we are always trying new technology here at Euler's English so
we're on a new video recorder today today's episode should be on YouTube we hope it will
be yes that's right that's right yeah we're pretty sure we're pretty sure guys
um we're pretty sure yeah Lindsay are you are you pretty sure that you're gonna work
out this week at Orange Theory I'm pretty sure I'm gonna actually go tonight Michelle
because just still working off those holiday pounds if you know what I mean
um yeah that well you know that's good I know that you really like going there so that's good
so have a fun time um thank you you're welcome ha we have a listener question um dealing with this
word pretty okay for us yeah Michelle I love that we're talking about the word pretty not
like beautiful right today right it's something more youthful actually than that word uh because
this is so common in our language so let's dive into the listener question and then we'll come
back to it so this listener says thanks for all you do could you please clarify the differences
between the adverbs quite and pretty in American and British English I'm sure it's confusing for
a lot of English Learners thank you so much and this is from Samira Raha and our amazing listener
okay great well thank you for that question that is a really good question Lindsay do you
say quite a lot actually I say pretty a lot more if that you know I would say that is for
me a lot more accessible a lot more casual what about you Michelle I I agree um for me pretty
feels more natural but there might be a time or two when we can get into how it's used and then
um you know but definitely I think pretty is more natural feeling for me so guys
um also we want you to check out this episode episode 1739 which is can't quite put your
finger on it so that's another good one to listen to but yeah I it doesn't mean that
I don't use quite at all but I don't think I use it quite as much as Prince exactly I
mean maybe in British English they use it more because when I say quite I actually
think about British English I feel like oh my gosh I sound very proper and British right now
right like I've just been watching you know I like I love I I love Love Actually I watched it
oh my gosh did you watch that during the holiday season in did you you did I did Michelle it's one
of those movies like I I it's you know do you ever have a movie that you watch so much that
you're like how many times have I seen this like is it possible I've seen this like is that do you
watch it that much that's the movie I was able to catch it on my flight back to New England for
the holidays but I watch it every holiday season and I love it every time it doesn't get boring
or anything I just love it yeah and I I love the music it's like the music is so like you just get
so like emotional I don't know it's like oh yeah I think this had the 20th anniversary they just
had like a little special about it yeah I heard about that you know it's fun I feel like you and
I are so similar in a lot of ways because I was actually having that Insight on the plane I was
like what is it about this movie that I love so much well it's touching it's human and it's the
music though the music is amazing and now I have like the chills like I feel like I get the chills
it's so true it really gets you in the season and but it's deeper than a lot of
typical Christmas movies because it's not just about one story right yeah it's about multiple
stories yeah but I noticed that like one of the stories on the version I watched on the
plane they took out one of the stories yeah I'm sure I know which one you're talking about they
completely took the storyline out right away it just doesn't exist yeah it doesn't exist yeah
um but I feel like I could hear like Hugh Grant I'm sure at some point he says like
oh yeah quite oh or um Alan Rickman oh yeah yeah I even remember he's like oh are you quite ready
or something like that it's a lot more British sounding for sure yes right all right all right
um so I mean it basically means very uh um you know and like for example if I say
I'm quite sure I locked the door right it means I'm very sure I locked the door right
um you know for example if so if we get home and this has happened before but you get home
and your door is cracked open right and you say I'm quite sure I locked the door so don't blame
it on me right it wasn't me it's not my fault right right right and it's interesting like
how I said about that Love Actually version like I think he said oh are you quite done
um it's like kind of different like I like I don't think I would ever say it like that so maybe
that's really like the British kind of way like oh are we quite finished with this or something like
that like guys if you if you're you know working on British English or you have English friends you
know let us know if they use quite in that way but in this way that we're talking about it's really
like oh I'm quite sure I locked the door now um yeah if you said I'm pretty sure I locked the
door that would feel different yeah I'm excited today because we're it sounds like we're really
comparing the differences between the two right quite and pretty and what is the true meaning
with both regardless of what culture you're from you know pretty is not as strong as quite for sure
Michelle 100 right I would say it's to a different degree right so let's let's go through a couple
more examples so if I said I'm pretty sure I paid the bill okay but if you say I'm quite sure I paid
that bill or who who do you trust more you know who do you uh why I trust you more I try who's
gonna pay the bills next month right and there's also like this intonation too like I like uh like
I mean yeah I might say I'm pretty sure I paid the bill but usually when you're pretty you would say
like oh I'm pretty sure you know it doesn't Garner a ton of confidence right and I don't have tons of
confidence and and not a lot of trust so you know we're talking about business English this might
might be something to avoid if we're trying to tell people that we did something right pretty
sure doesn't give you a lot of confidence so right right right I'm just changing this example
um so and then the next one um it would be like oh I'm pretty hungry are you yeah I'm pretty hungry
are you right so you're not saying you're starving but you're it's a strong suggestion right right
right right whereas if you said like I'm quite hungry are you stronger it's stronger for sure
it's like I need to eat I'm gonna get hangry soon right right right okay let's do one more so if
I say it it's pretty cold in here isn't it right or it's quite cold in here isn't it right um that
one I feel like you know you're kind of saying the same thing so sometimes when we interchange
these there's really not a huge difference that's interesting Michelle right I feel like you know if
I'm saying like I'm pretty sure that's you know to a lesser degree then I'm quite sure but if you say
like oh it's pretty cold in here like you might almost be doing it more so to soften it a little
bit right okay I like that whereas like it's you're sure about it so we don't want to think oh
that you sound like oh but I bet you don't sound that cold since you just sounded pretty but um but
I feel like if you say I'm pretty sure um right it's just like a different feeling I don't know
right right so we need to look at this in context guys what are we actually saying in some cases
you're gonna say the same thing in a lot of cases it's not as strong the pretty piece right let's
keep going Michelle let's give some more examples yeah right right so again quite can sound more
certain or emphatic to me but it can also be the same and like you said it depends on the context
so let's try another one I'm quite tired I'm pretty tired right so what's the difference there
okay I mean think of if someone is yawning right um and they sound like to me they sound it it
really kind of depends on how you're saying it right if I'm like oh I'm pretty tired but if I'm
like I'm pretty tired but you know I could still go for Oh short walk right I think that's the key
Michelle it depends on your intonation it really depends when it comes to saying pretty it really
depends on what intonation you're using that makes it stronger or weaker right right right exactly
and then again this comes back to the American British English thing I I don't think that I would
ever say to like Dan like oh I'm quite tired no like you know it just in general you know I with
all these examples I mean I do think if you were saying like I'm quite sure I paid the bill I I
think that's more I might say that more likely than oh I'm quite tired yeah I I guess but to
be honest I just think it's not really that much in my vocabulary at all especially at home it'd
probably be more likely to be in my vocabulary in in the business world if I'm having some kind of
a sales call or negotiation or something but I just think Americans use it so much less
right yeah I I agree I do agree so but in general guys a good way to think of it is well think of
the tone of voice but also pretty is if you're looking for some key difference uh I would say
pretty is more like fairly or mostly where quite is more like very or really yeah I can but it can
also change it could also change but yeah let me say that one more time for our listeners so guys
you know the closest words to Pretty are more like fairly or mostly right and then quite is closer to
very or really so you can tell if we think of this as a spectrum right we're going to have
quite further along on the Spectrum than pretty right a spectrum of strength of how strong your
statement is Right Michelle right right right I I think that's I think that's fair okay Michelle so
should we go ahead and learn any chunks here when it comes to quite and pretty what do you think
okay so let's think of like I feel like I always hear this like pretty capable or quite capable I
don't know why this one just came into my head yeah pretty capable yeah okay what else so uh
well I just wanted to ask you like oh are do these sound different to you like okay so if
I say she's pretty capable of getting the job done or she's quite capable again yeah to me okay this
is an example of a time when they basically in my mind mean the same thing would you say that
yeah right tone of voice right so exactly so again you know you I mean I think even though white
isn't used as frequently you know you might want to use it if you do you're making that decision to
have a slightly stronger sound right um yeah exactly you know for example if I say so the
one that would be closest to quite would be she's pretty capable of getting the job done right that
to me feels strong Michelle right that feels closer to she's quite capable of getting the
job done but if I say she's pretty capable of getting the job done pretty capable there's a
little bit more of it hesitation around the word pretty there right that is less sure right right
whereas with quite capable I don't think you would ever say oh she's quite capable no like
I don't think you would take that on right right exactly it doesn't have the flexibility
that pretty has like pretty interesting yeah right I don't think you could just say like
the like the it wouldn't match if you did a you know hesitant tone of voice with quite
yes exactly exactly yeah no totally that's why I I like the word pretty I mean it's so Dynamic
we can say a lot of different things just in our tone of voice exactly right right so should we do
a role play yeah let's do it Michelle here we go what here we are what are we doing we are getting
ready to go to a party did you go to a New Year's party this year Michelle any New Year's wild New
Year's parties I would not say that it was wild but I did go to a friend's house uh and uh all
there were many children there and my son had his first sleepover and oh fun let's just say that
it took a long time for them to get to sleep and it was so funny because we were watching
them she had like a like a camera for the room so finally like they agreed to let us leave the room
and then we saw them and they were dancing excuse so we all slept over there and uh cute that's fun
and then we were like oh Wilbur then we're gonna have the adult dinner and it just by the time we
were even able to have dinner January was like 10. oh gosh what about your interview yeah yeah right
did you go to a New Year's party no we were home early we went skiing that on New Year's Day that
was fun but uh we went to a brewery like in the early evening but you know nothing wild nothing
crazy Michelle no I'm not I've never really been a big New Year's person you know yeah um not really
when I was in high school I was because I wanted to just be an adult and be crazy but now that I'm
an adult an adult I just want to be in bed so me too yeah this was actually even like crazy for me
I because I expected we didn't know we were going to this party until yeah like like a couple hours
before and then I was like oh wow so I'm not gonna be just watching oh yeah man in bed like that
could be hard to take sometimes but I'm glad you had a good time yeah it was fun it was I love it
um so anyway here we go we're getting ready all right Michelle let's go it's pretty late already
and we'll miss the start of the party Lindsay I'm quite certain we won't how can you be so sure well
I'm also pretty sure most people won't show up on time yeah but that's no reason to be late we are
quite capable of leaving on time fine I sound so fancy when I say that right we're quite capable
yes and you also like I feel like I feel like it sounds almost like a little bit of an attitude
at that point yeah a little bit of an attitude I'm I'm changing my register a little bit right
yes yes yes exactly so should we go through that yeah let's go through it so what did I say first
okay so you said let's go it's pretty late already okay so would you use quite it just wouldn't sound
right but if a British person might yes again guys on alerts English we teach you American
English we do have a lot of British people and Aussies on the show as guests and you can listen
to those episodes for sure but we're going to tell you that as American English speakers we
would tend to use pretty the most right so that's how it is I wouldn't use it Michelle in that case
yeah okay and what about in this next one I'm quite certain we won't I know it just wouldn't
come to me I I wouldn't say pretty again I would actually actually what would you say
here I would say I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure we won't so I would repeat pretty uh because it's
so common but I wouldn't yeah yeah I wouldn't repeat the exact same phrase so or I feel like
I might just say I'm sure we won't I'm sure we won't even even more than just like pretty sure
or you could say I'm confident we won't is another thing you could say but I'm pretty
sure I feel like I want to say that casually like oh I'm confident yeah I know no and actually I
yeah you already said we said I'm pretty sure here in the second line so very common phrase
right for the next one he said well I'm also pretty sure most people won't show up on time
yeah [Music] um and then you said we are quite capable of leaving on time and again like we said
that's a little fancier right Michelle yeah that's a little fancy I love it I love it so what's the
takeaway for our listeners we showed our listeners today what is the difference between these two and
where should we leave them okay guys well listen for context listen for tone of voice watch Love
Actually if you haven't already but just know it's not quite little kid friendly so I want to
uh I might not do that um but yeah um I mean and certainly if you're using if you're working on
your British English you know try and throw this in listen for it and those movies or in examples
if you happen to be living uh you know maybe in the UK uh in England so yeah but but let us know
let us know I love it yeah good stuff and thank you to our listener for that amazing question
guys go ahead and hit follow on this podcast if you want a more amazing episodes Michelle how
often do we publish on aller's English how many days a week four days a week week amazing and
we've always done that guys so go ahead and hit that follow button smash that follow button and
make sure you don't miss a single episode of this show I'm not losing my voice Michelle I gotta get
out there all right it's time to go all right I'll talk to you soon have a good one bye you too bye
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