cấu trúc · formal
rather than + noun/gerund/clause
used to indicate preference or choice of one thing instead of another; can be followed by noun, gerund, or clause.
Examples
“The university focuses on prevention rather than treatment.”
“She chose to walk rather than take a taxi.”
“Many people buy convenience foods rather than cooking at home.”
Band 8 sentence
“Policymakers should invest in preventive measures rather than continually expanding costly emergency services.”
Collocations
- rather than + V (bare) after to-infinitive
- prefer X rather than Y (informal)
Word family
Common mistakes
He decided to resign rather than to remain silent.→He decided to resign rather than remain silent.
The university increased scholarships rather than it reduced research grants.→The university increased scholarships rather than reduced research grants.
Say it for a higher band
5prefer + Ving + to + Ving→6instead of + Ving→7+rather than + noun/gerund/clause
Synonyms
instead of
Easily confused
instead of + noun/gerund
“She drank tea instead of coffee.”
prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund
“I prefer reading to watching television.”
Related words
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In Comparatives
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