Quiet vs Quite
What's the difference?
Just one letter and a swapped order apart, these two get mistyped constantly — but they sound different and mean completely different things.
Quick answer
Quiet (QUI-et, two syllables) means silent or calm. Quite (rhymes with "kite," one syllable) means fairly or completely. The silent one has the E before the T.
Compared side by side
(adjective) making little or no noise; calm.
- “Please be quiet.”
- “It's a quiet little town.”
- “The house was quiet at night.”
(adverb) to a fair degree — fairly; or completely.
- “It's quite cold today.”
- “I'm not quite finished.”
- “That's quite impossible.”
How to remember it
quiEt has the E sneak in before the T, like a quiet whisper. quite ends in "-ite," and rhymes with kite.
Frequently asked
Why are these so easy to mix up?
Mostly because they're a typo apart — the E and T are swapped. Remember that quiet (no noise) has two syllables, while quite (fairly) has one and rhymes with kite.
Does "quite" mean 'a little' or 'very'?
It depends. In American English "quite" often means "very" (quite good = very good). In British English it can mean "fairly" (quite good = reasonably good). Context and tone decide.