prefer doing VS prefer to do something: a. prefer doing 用于表示一般性的偏好. When we are talking about general preferences, prefer is followed by verb-ing, thus: I prefer listening to music to watching TV. I'd rather listen to music than watch TV. b. prefer to do 和 would rather do 是一样的, 用于特定情况下的偏好. would rather 后边跟句子时是虚拟语气, 用过去式. 'd rather do something 和 prefer to do something rather than 是一样的 However, when we are talking about specifics, would rather is used as an alternative to would prefer to followed by an infinitive. Would rather is very common in spoken English and is often abbreviated to 'd rather. It is used in this form with all personal pronouns: I'd / you'd / he'd / she'd / we'd / they'd rather… Study these examples: Would you like to go out for dinner tonight? No, I think I'd rather eat at home / I'd prefer to eat at home. Would you rather drink beer or wine with the curry ~ I'd rather drink beer. What about you? They'd rather have the strawberries by themselves, but I'd prefer to have them with cream. c. would rather 后边跟原形. prefer 后跟不定式. Note that would rather is followed by a bare infinitive without to, whereas prefer requires to + infinitive. Would rather (but not would prefer to prefer 后边好像一般不跟that句子, 而是用 would prefer it if, 如果跟句子的话也是要虚拟语气的) is also followed by a past tense when we want to involve other people in the action, even though it has a present or future meaning. Study the following: Shall we go out for dinner tonight? No, I'd rather we ate at home, if you don't mind. Shall I write to Harry and tell him that we've sold the car? I'd rather you didn't. My mother would rather we caught the bus, rather than walk home after the party. I would prefer it if spoken a. used to say that you wish a situation was different. Sales have gone down, and obviously we'd prefer it if that didn't happen. b. used when telling someone politely not to do something. I'd prefer it if you didn't smoke in front of the children. d. would rather 和 would prefer to 后边都可以接rather than do something. Rather than means instead of and can be used in combination with would prefer to and would rather. Study the following and note the intricacies of the verb forms: Rather than lose precious sleep discussing it now, I think we should go to bed and talk about it in the morning. My mother would prefer us to email each other once a week, rather than spend half an hour on the phone every night. My mother would rather we emailed each other once a week instead of spending half an hour on the phone every night. In fact, she insists on it. So we'd better do that, I suppose. e. 'd better Note that 'd better, which is similar structurally to 'd rather, is used to suggest necessary action. In this case however, 'd is the abbreviated form of had, not would. Like 'd rather, 'd better is followed by the bare infinitive without to. Study the following: We'd better not be late for the Ambasador's party. It would be unforgivable to arrive late. You'd better phone him and tell him that you're not going. They'd better buy me a Christmas present or I shall never forgive them. Note that it is sometimes slightly threatening in tone, as in the last example. Had better is always more urgent than should or ought to and has the same force as I would advise you strongly to…. or We must / we mustn't….
Prefer 的用法:
Expressing preference: We use prefer to say we like one thing or activity more than another. We can use a prepositional phrase with to when we compare two things or actions:
I prefer tea to coffee.
We prefer going by ferry to flying. We don't use than after prefer:
She prefers books to magazines.
I have to admit, I do prefer bottled water. You're talking with a friend who's very serious about doing things to improve the environment. You mostly agree with him, but he mentions that bottled water causes a lot of pollution. You always drink bottled water, so you say this. prefer (something) To "prefer" something means to like it more than something else. This is used to compare two things. In the example at top, the speaker compares bottled water with tap water. If you want to name both of the things you're compared, you say: I prefer bottled water to tap water. Or I prefer bottled water over tap water.
We can use a to-infinitive or an -ing form after prefer. A to-infinitive is more common.
She's not keen on coffee. She prefers to drink tea. (or She prefers drinking tea to coffee.)
Would prefer: We use would prefer or 'd prefer, followed by a to-infinitive or a noun, to talk about present and future preferences:
I'd prefer to go by myself.
Would you prefer a quieter restaurant?
She'd prefer not to drive at night.
When we want to say that we would like to do one thing more than another, we can introduce the second thing with rather than, followed by an infinitive without to:
I'd prefer to go skiing this year rather than go on a beach holiday.
When we are talking about our preferences for the actions of another person, we can use would prefer + object pronoun + to-infinitive or would prefer it if + past simple:
They'd prefer us to come later. (or They'd prefer it 才好呢 if we came later.)
Would you prefer me to drive? (or Would you prefer it if I drove?)
Typical errors 典型错误:
We use a to-infinitive after prefer, not an infinitive without to:
I prefer to drive.
Whenever I have time I like to read but I prefer not to read in the evening.
We make comparisons using to or rather than, not just than:
A lot of young people prefer computer games to football. (or A lot of young people prefer computer games rather than football.)
would rather 的用法: would rather 的变形: would much rather do sth. would sooner do sth. would just as soon do sth.
1. Would rather We use would rather or 'd rather to talk about preferring one thing to another. Would rather has two different constructions. (The subjects are underlined in the examples.)
same subject (+ base form)
different subject (+ past simple clause)
I'd rather stay at home than go out tonight. I'd rather you stayed at home tonight.
I'd rather not go out tonight. I'd rather you didn't go out tonight.
In negative sentences with a different subject, the negative comes on the clause that follows, not on would rather:
She'd rather you didn't phone after 10 o'clock.
不定式的情况: When the subject is the same person in both clauses, we use would rather (not) followed by the base form of the verb:
We'd rather go on Monday.
More than half the people questioned would rather have a shorter summer break and more holidays at other times.
I'd rather not fly. I hate planes.
过去式: When we want to refer to the past we use would rather + have + -ed form (perfect infinitive without to):
She would rather have spent the money on a holiday. (The money wasn't spent on a holiday.)
I'd rather have seen it at the cinema than on DVD. (I saw the film on DVD.)
宾语从句的情况 (虚拟语气): When the subjects of the two clauses are different, we often use the past simple to talk about the present or future, and the past perfect to talk about the past:
I would rather they did something about it instead of just talking about it. (past simple to talk about the present or future)
Would you rather I wasn't honest with you? (past simple to talk about the present or future)
I'd rather you hadn't rung me at work. (past perfect to talk about the past)
2. Much rather: We can use much with would rather to make the preference stronger. In speaking, we stress much:
I'd much rather make a phone call than send an email.
She'd much rather they didn't know about what had happened.
Short responses: I'd rather not
We often use I'd rather not as a short response to say no to a suggestion or request:
A: Do you want to go for a coffee?
B: I'd rather not, if you don't mind.
3. Would sooner, would just as soon: We use the phrases would sooner and would just as soon when we say that we prefer one thing to another thing. They mean approximately the same as would rather:
I don't really want to go back to France again this year. I'd sooner go to Spain.
Thanks for the invitation, but, if you don't mind, we'd just as soon stay at home and watch it all on TV.
Would sooner is more common than would just as soon. However, would rather is more common than both of these phrases.
Would rather, would sooner: typical errors
We don't use would rather or would sooner with an -ing form or a to-infinitive:
I don't need a lift, thanks. I'd rather walk.
When we use not referring to a different subject, we attach not to the second clause, not to would rather or would sooner:
I'd rather they didn't tell anyone.
