grammar · neutral

prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund

Band 4-5speakingtask2

Used to express liking one thing more than another (prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund).

Examples

“I prefer tea to coffee.”

“Many students prefer studying in groups to studying alone.”

“I prefer to read at night rather than watch TV.”

Band 8 sentence

“Many inhabitants prefer cycling to driving because it's both faster during rush hour and better for the environment.”

Collocations

  • prefer A to B
  • prefer doing to doing

Word family

prefer vpreference npreferred adj

Common mistakes

prefer A than B→prefer A to B

prefer to do than do→prefer to do rather than do / prefer doing to doing

Say it for a higher band

5prefer A than B→6prefer to do than do→7+prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund

Synonyms

would rather

Easily confused

prefer to / prefer doing / would rather

“I would rather stay home tonight than go out.”

Related words

the extent to which + clauseas + adjective + asA + adjective + -er + than Bby contrast, + clausemore + adjective + thannot as/so + adjective + asthe + superlative + (noun)the ratio of + A + to + B

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In Comparatives

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