As you know, one of the skills that is assessed in the EOI and Cambridge exams is grammar. That’s why today we’re going to focus on some structures that are used a lot but are easily confused.
So, here we have the differences between rather and prefer that we saw last week at the Academy Welcome to English (Centro de Estudios Ana Costachi S.L.). Remember:
1. Prefer is followed by to infinitive but rather is followed by bare infinitive (without to).
Ex: I’d prefer to go to the cinema BUT
I’d rather go to the cinema (‘d – would)
2. When talking about specific preferences use one of these patterns:
* I’d prefer +full infinitive or noun
Ex: I’d prefer to have some pasta OR
I’d prefer some pasta.
*I’d rather +bare infinitive+ than + bare infinitive
Ex: I’d rather order take away than eat out
3. When talking about general preferences use one of these patterns:
* Prefer +noun +to +noun
Ex: I prefer vegetables to meat
* Prefer + ing form + to + ing form
Ex: I prefer walking to driving.
* Prefer + full infinitive +rather than + bare infinitive
Ex: I prefer to play tennis rather than play golf.
I hope that you’ll find it useful and remember that “practice makes perfect” so, try to practice the above-mentioned structures by applying them to your own life. In other words, try to talk about your preferences using them and let us know how it is going.
