Why is "quite" being placed before "the" instead of saying "the quite..."?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Quite" is often placed before an article ("the" or "a"/"an") of a noun or an adjective to give it more emphasis or express that it is very grand. In this case, saying "quite the" in front of "quite the unexpected journey" emphasizes that the journey was unexpected. Ex: She has quite the collection of mugs. Ex: He has quite a big house.