Difference Between Quiet and Quite
Main difference
Both words possess exactly different meanings though they confuse people as they are quite similar to each other when it comes to looks. Both are made up of five letters each and are formed with the use of similar letters. The only difference in appearance is that ‘et’ comes at the end of silence, while ‘te’ comes at the end of silence. Even judging through this, people often get confused and mistakenly use both words in place of the other. Quiet is an adjective pronounced like ‘kwahy-et’, used in the sense of silence, low noise, or calm, while Quite is an adverb pronounced like ‘kwahyt’, used to express something close to the whole or very complete.
Comparison chart
| Quiet | Quite | |
| Sense | Quiet is used to describe the state of silence or calm. | Quite means something close to completion or a higher degree. |
| word form | Adjective | Adverb |
| Meanings in different contexts | Apart from silence or little noise, silence means calm or something away from problems. | Aside from almost completely, quite means absolutely and really. |
| phonemic hyphen | /’kwaɪət/ | /’kwaɪt/ |
| Usage in sentence | I told you to shut up. | I pretty much agree with you on that point. |
What is Quiet?
Quiet is an adjective used to describe the state of silence or calm. It is one of the most heard words in high school, when the students continue to carry their own gossip and the teacher standing inside repeatedly asks them to ‘shut up’, that is, asks them to shut up. Furthermore, the word also means calm or something away from trouble. The word ‘quiet’ is also used in several other meanings or expressions, the examples below will make you familiar with it.
Examples of Quiet
- I told you to shut up. In this sentence, silence means to remain silent during the course of time.
- Bell is a quiet person. In this sentence he rather means the one who usually doesn’t talk much.
- ‘ I’m going to have a quiet word with him.’ Here, silence means something that others do not know and that is kept secret.
What is Quite?
Quite is an adverb that means something close to completion or higher degree. The word is also used to show ‘very’ in places such as in the sentence ‘You were quite late that day’. Here the word is used to mean ‘very’ without mentioning real time. The word ‘quite’ has several meanings, depending on the context, the examples below will give a better concept.
Examples of Remove
- I pretty much agree with you on that point. ‘ Here the word quite is used as absolutely or to a great extent.
- I am very sorry for my attitude that night. In this sentence quite means very and really simultaneously.
Calm vs Calm
- Quiet is used to describe the state of silence or calm, on the other hand, Quite means something close to completion or higher degree.
- Quiet is an adjective, while remove is an adverb.
- Aside from silence or little noise, silence means calm or somewhat away from trouble, while quite, except almost completely means absolutely and really.
- Quiet is pronounced as ‘kwahy-et’, while quite is pronounced as ‘kwahyt’.