Look-alike words
Quiet vs. Quite
Quiet means making little or no noise, as in a quiet room. Quite is an adverb that means very, completely or fairly, as in quite cold. Quiet has two syllables; quite has one.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| quiet | adjective | making little or no noise; calm and peaceful |
| noun | a state of silence or calm | |
| quite | adverb | completely, very, or to a fair degree, depending on the sentence |
Quiet
adjective: making little or no noise; calm and peaceful
- The library is quiet on Sunday mornings.
- Please keep the dog quiet while the baby sleeps.
noun: a state of silence or calm
- After the party, Diego enjoyed the quiet of the empty house.
- We drove out of the city for some peace and quiet.
Quite
adverb: completely, very, or to a fair degree, depending on the sentence
- The soup is quite spicy, so go easy on it.
- I'm not quite finished with the report yet.
How to remember the difference
Quiet rhymes with diet, and both end in -et. Quite rhymes with kite, and both end in -te.
Good to know
Quiet is also a verb, as in quiet the crowd; Americans rarely use the British form quieten. Quite can mean very or only fairly, so quite good often sounds warmer in American speech than in British speech.
Spot the mistake
The test was
quietquite hard, but I passed.Correct: The test was quite hard, but I passed.
Could you please be
quitequiet during the movie?Correct: Could you please be quiet during the movie?
Check yourself
Pick the word that fits each sentence.
1. The street gets after the shops close.
Answer: quiet. The word describes a street with little noise, so it is quiet.
2. That jacket is expensive for what it is.
Answer: quite. The word means very and strengthens expensive, so it is the adverb quite.