Prefer and rather: which do you prefer?
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 5:28 am
Do you know the difference between prefer and rather? In this article we want to explain how to use each of these words to express preferences. For English learners, this is often a confusing topic, as there are many ways to express preferences in Shakespeare's language. Let's look at them!
Downloadable: Conditionals in English (summary table + exercises)
Prefer and rather, what they mean
The first thing we are going to do is learn what kind of words prefer and rather are:
Prefer is a transitive verb that can be bangladesh phone number list as “to prefer”. It is similar to the verbs like , love or hate .
Rather is an adverb that can also be translated in the same way.
Both expressions also have other meanings.
In the case of prefer, this verb also has the meanings of appoint, promote and present (in the legal field, for example, to present charges).
Rather can be used as a synonym for quite a bit, something, little, but it also means "better said."
Prefer
We use the verb prefer when we want to talk about preferences in general. To do this, we can do it in different ways:
We must place the verb prefer followed by another verb ending in -ing.
I prefer playing tennis .
Another way to use it is with the structure subject + prefer + noun + to + noun
I prefer pizza to hamburger .
We can also say that we prefer to do one thing rather than another. For this, the structure is this: subject + prefer + verb in -ing + to + verb in -ing
I prefer going to the beach to staying at the pool . (I'd rather go to the beach than stay at the pool).
Downloadable: Conditionals in English (summary table + exercises)
Prefer and rather, what they mean
The first thing we are going to do is learn what kind of words prefer and rather are:
Prefer is a transitive verb that can be bangladesh phone number list as “to prefer”. It is similar to the verbs like , love or hate .
Rather is an adverb that can also be translated in the same way.
Both expressions also have other meanings.
In the case of prefer, this verb also has the meanings of appoint, promote and present (in the legal field, for example, to present charges).
Rather can be used as a synonym for quite a bit, something, little, but it also means "better said."
Prefer
We use the verb prefer when we want to talk about preferences in general. To do this, we can do it in different ways:
We must place the verb prefer followed by another verb ending in -ing.
I prefer playing tennis .
Another way to use it is with the structure subject + prefer + noun + to + noun
I prefer pizza to hamburger .
We can also say that we prefer to do one thing rather than another. For this, the structure is this: subject + prefer + verb in -ing + to + verb in -ing
I prefer going to the beach to staying at the pool . (I'd rather go to the beach than stay at the pool).