sábado, 17 de octubre de 2015

'Would rather' to express preference

The expression would rather means 'would prefer to' and is followed by the infinitive without to. The contraction 'd rather is commonly used.   

We use would rather when we are given a limited choice of things to decide on:

Would you rather stay here or go home?
'How about a drink?' 'I'd rather have something to eat.'
'What was all that about?' 'I'd rather not say.'

The preposition than is used if we explicitly mention the element which is not the case:
I'd rather see thrillers than romantic films.
I'd rather have coffee than tea.

However, would rather can easily be confused with some similar structures:
1
would rather like means would very much like:
I'd rather like a cup of coffee

2
We can use would rather to say that one person would prefer another or others to do something. In this meaning we use the structure would rather + subject + past tense.
I'd rather you went home now.
I'd rather you came next week.
My mum would rather we didn't see each other any more.

After this grammar introduction, let's practise the expression would rather with the meaning 'would prefer to'. rrrather gives us a great opportunity to orally practise this structure by presenting us with countless options to decide on. You can click on the tag 'categories' to choose the topics to discuss. Remember to give your reasons for your choice.


H/T to Talk to Me English.