Quite a, such a, what a, etc
A Introduction
After quite, such and what we can use a phrase with a/an, e.g. a game. There is often an adjective as well, e.g. such a good team.
B Very, quite, rather, etc
A/an goes before very, fairly, really, etc.
It's a very old house.
It's a fairly long walk.
I made a really stupid mistake.
But a/an usually goes after quite.
It's quite an old house.
There was quite a crowd .
A/an can go either before or after rather.
It's a rather old house, OR It's rather an old house.
We can also use very, quite, rather, etc + adjective + plural or uncountable noun.
They're very old houses.
This is quite nice coffee.
C So and such a
SO
The structure is be + so + adjective.
The test was so easy. NOT It was a so easy test.
The hill was so steep.
It's so inconvenient without a car.
The weather is so nice.
Tom's jokes are so awful.
SUCH A/AN
The structure is such + a/an (+ adjective) + noun.
It was such an easy test. NOT It was a such easy test.
It was such a steep hill.
It's such a nuisance without a car.
We can also use such + an adjective + a plural or uncountable noun.
We're having such nice weather.
Tom tells such awful jokes.
Note these sentences with long, far, many/much and a lot of.
It's so long since I saw you. It's such a long time since I saw you.
Why are we so far from the beach? It's such a long way to the beach.
There were so many people. There were such a lot of people.
You waste so much time. You waste such a lot of time.
We can use this structure with so ... (that) or such ... (that).
Emma was so angry with Matthew (that) she threw a plate at him. Vicky got such a nice welcome (that) she almost cried.
I was so unlucky you wouldn't believe it. I had such bad luck you wouldn't believe it.
D What a...
In an exclamation we can use what a/an with a singular noun and what with a plural or uncountable noun.
+ singular noun: What a goal! What a good idea!
+ plural noun: What lovely flowers! What nice shoes you've got on!
+ uncountable noun: What rubbish! What fun we had!