It’s worth remembering that…
Quite – (= fairly to some degree) is used in favourable comments. eg. He’s quite good at squash. Quite is used before a/an. eg. He’s quite a good tennis player. Quite (= completely ) is used with adverbs, some verbs and adjectives such as: amazing, brilliant, certain, dreadful, different, exhausted, horrible, impossible, perfect, right, sure, true, useless etc. eg. I’m quite sure she lied to us.
Rather – is used in unfavourable comments. eg. He’s rather bad at Maths. It can also be used in favourable comments meaning ‘to unusual degree’. eg. The lecture was rather interesting. ( more interesting than we expected ).
Rather is also used with comparative degree. eg. He’s rather shorter than his brother.
Rather is also used before or after a/an. eg. It’s a rather cold winter. or It’s rather a cold winter.
Fairly/Pretty – are synonymous with quite and rather. They are used after a . He’s a fairly/pretty good student.