Introduction
Maria has sent us a question by email. She wants to know what the difference is between ‘I prefer’, ‘I would prefer’ and ‘I would rather’.
Sian says…
Use prefer…
- to say you like one thing more than another when talking about general preference e.g. I prefer coffee to tea.
- with the preposition ‘to’
- with nouns e.g. I prefer coffee to tea.
- with verbs in the -ing form e.g. I prefer staying in to going out.
Use would rather…
- to say you like one thing more than another when talking about general preference e.g. Nowadays, I’d rather stay in than go out.
- to talk about a specific preference e.g. Tonight, I’d rather stay in than go out. I’m tired.
- with the preposition ‘than’
- with verbs in the infinitive (without ‘to’) e.g. Nowadays, I’d rather stay in than go out. Tonight, I’d rather stay in than go out. I’m tired.
Use would prefer + rather than together…
- to talk about specific preferences, like things you prefer to do now or in the future
- with the preposition ‘than’
- with the verb in the ‘to’ plus infinitive form e.g. I’d prefer to go out rather than stay in tonight.
- In spoken English, it’s common to contract ‘I would’ to ‘I’d’ and it’s common to drop the ‘rather’ e.g. I’d prefer to go out than stay in tonight.