student asking question

Can I use "on the quite unexpected" instead of "on quite the unexpected" here? Which is more correct?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

No, it would not sound natural to say "on the quite unexpected" instead of "on quite the unexpected" here. "Quite" usually must go before the object, and so the article should be placed in between "quite" and "unexpected" here. Ex: It was quite a long trip. Ex: This city is quite the most beautiful I've seen.

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