ENGLISH II CURSO DE INGLÉS COMO

1 M1-T2 "Would you like to go to the LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LÍNEA

movies or to watch TV?“

Would rather / prefer

We would prefer to go diving.

Have you had to choose between going to one place or another?

Or maybe about eating one type of food or another? Sometimes
we just want to talk about the things we prefer.

1 Function
We use would rather and would prefer to express our preferences in specific occasions. Read
this short conversation to see how we can use them.

Louis: Let’s hang out for the weekend. Would you prefer to go
climbing or cliff diving?
Karen: I don’t like swimming; I would rather go climbing.
Louis: Excellent! We can buy sandwiches to eat later.
Karen: I don’t like sandwiches I prefer salad.
Louis: That’s okay, we can make it before leaving.
Karen: Great! See you on Sunday.

If you notice, we can talk about what we prefer in a

specific situation using would + rather or prefer. Although
there is a difference in the structure, let’s see.

2 Structure
Affirmative sentences

-gerund
Subject + would + prefer + -infinitive Subject + would + rather + verb
(to + verb) (in base form)
-noun

After prefer we can use a verb in With rather we use a verb in base
gerund(-ing) or infinitive and a noun. form.

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE ZACATECAS “FRANCISCO GARCÍA SALINAS”

 ENGLISH II CURSO DE INGLÉS COMO
2 M1-T2 "Would you like to go to the LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LÍNEA
movies or to watch TV?“

Example: Example: I would rather go

We’d prefer eating salad. climbing.
I would prefer to go climbing.
She’d prefer chocolate ice cream.

Would can be contracted when we are using a personal pronoun: I’d, You’d, He’d…

Negative sentences
Add “not” after prefer or rather:

Subject + would + prefer not + complement.

rather

Example: She would prefer not to jump from a cliff.

We would rather not fly on a plane.

Questions

Yes / No Questions:
We change the order of would and the subject.
Would + subject + prefer + complement?
rather
plem or cliff diving?
Would you prefer to go climbing
Would you rather eat strawberries or pineapple?

Information Questions:
We start with a wh- word and then we follow the previous structure.

What
prefer + complement?
Where + would + subject +
rather
Who
plem
Why
How
 ENGLISH II CURSO DE INGLÉS COMO
3 M1-T2 "Would you like to go to the LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LÍNEA
movies or to watch TV?“

Examples: What would you prefer to do?

Where would she rather go?
Why would they prefer bungee-jumping?

3 References
• Beare, K. (2019 January 26) Would rather. ThoughtCo. Available in
https://www.thoughtco.com/expressing-would-rather-1211110
• (n.d) Would rather & Prefer. Englishpedia.net Available in https://www.englishpedia.net/my-
grammar/modals/would-rather-prefer/prefer-would-rather-difference.html