grammar · neutral

would rather + base verb / would rather + (someone) + past simple

Band 5-6speakingtask2

Used to say you prefer one thing or action to another; structure changes when you talk about other people.

Examples

“I'd rather stay home tonight than go out.”

“I'd rather you turned the music down.”

“We would rather finish this task before lunch.”

Band 8 sentence

“Given the traffic, I'd rather catch an earlier train than risk being late for the meeting.”

Collocations

  • would rather + not + base verb
  • would rather + someone + past simple

Word family

would rather not phrase

Common mistakes

I would rather to go out tonight.→I would rather go out tonight.

I would rather you will come earlier.→I would rather you came earlier.

Say it for a higher band

5prefer + to + V→6would like + someone to + V→7+would rather + base verb / would rather + (someone) + past simple

Synonyms

prefer

Easily confused

prefer + to + base verb

“I prefer to drink tea in the morning.”

Related words

have / has + past participlesubject + V(s) (simple present)be about to + base verbbe + V-ingso + adjective/adverb + that + clauseIf + present perfect, will + base verbNot only + clause, but also + clausewill have been + V-ing

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In Tenses

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