I have a question. Is the "rather" in "I would rather drink tea than coffee" the same as the "rather" in "We took the train rather than driving to avoid traffic."? They are often translated similar

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T.Kato

I have a question. Is the "rather" in "I would rather drink tea than coffee" the same as the "rather" in "We took the train rather than driving to avoid traffic."? They are often translated similarly into Japanese, but looking at the context, the two uses of "rather" seem to have different meanings. Are the "rather" in "would rather" and the "rather" in "rather than" actually the same in meaning? Thank you!

Jan 14, 2025 4:58 PM

Answers · 5

The first sentence uses "rather" as a *verb*. Here it could be replaced by "prefer to" (I would prefer to drink tea instead of coffee). In the second sentence, "rather" (along with "than") isn't a verb but a *compound conjunction*. It connects the two actions and shows their relationship. It can be replaced by "instead of" (We took the train instead of driving to avoid traffic).

January 15, 2025

"Would rather" is more direct and emphatic than "would prefer." In your example, "I would rather die than apologize to him," replacing it with "I would prefer to die than apologize to him" sounds overly formal and less natural. Use "would rather" for stronger emotional expressions.

January 14, 2025

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