student asking question

What is different between "very good" and "pretty good"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You can think of "pretty good" as being more casual and hip than "very good." The latter sounds a little more formal and rigid than "pretty good," although both work fine in this context. Ex: The movie was pretty good! Sometimes, "pretty good," depending on tone, can also be used to indicate some reluctance or a feeling of "more or less." In these cases, we can understand it to mean "it was so-so." Ex: A: How is your summer break going? B: Pretty good, I guess. (Not bad).

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