What is the difference between plutot and assez?

Question

"It's quite difficult but useful." Why can't you use 'plutot' in this sentence? Is 'assez' used for quite while plutot for 'rather'?

Accepted Answer

Hi Ashley,
In most cases, assez or plutôt will be used and in that particular example, you could use either without any change in meaning.
I suppose the difference is similar to that in English between 'quite' and 'rather'.
Assez + adjectif will often be translated by rather, quite, fairly, pretty, sufficiently
Plutôt + adjectif will be rather, if anything, somewhat 
but the difference is minimal
If you say -
Cette situation est plutôt/assez inquiétante  
either would do.
Hope this helps!

Answer

That's a subtle question which is probably best be answered by a native speaker. In some cases they are interchangable while in others they are not.

You might want to google "difference between plutôt and assez". I found several interesting discussions, some more useful than others. But it will give you a good idea.

Answer

As a followup, when does one use "plutôt de" vs "plutôt que"?