rather
part of speech
adverb (rather); in phrases (would rather, rather than)
meaning for a pupil
1) Rather means quite or a little, like «rather cold». tree →
2) «Would rather» means would prefer: «I'd rather walk». tree →
3) «Rather than» means instead of. tree →
4) «Or rather» is used to correct yourself and say something more exactly. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday talk, children say what they would rather do when choosing. In stories, rather is a softer way to say quite or very («It was rather dark»). In maths word problems, «rather than» shows a choice or a change. Phrases: would rather, I'd rather not, rather than, or rather, rather a lot.
examples
- It's rather cold today, so take a coat. tree →
- I'd rather have pizza than pasta. tree →
- Would you rather swim or cycle? tree →
- She chose to walk rather than take the bus. tree →
- I'd rather not talk about it. tree →
- He was rather tired after the match. tree →
- The test was rather easy. tree →
- We left at six, or rather a bit after six. tree →
- ‘Happy!’ cried he; ‘say rather unhappy. tree →
note
«Would rather» is followed by the base verb: «I'd rather go», not «I'd rather to go». «Rather» is British-sounding when it means quite; Americans often say «pretty». «Would you rather…?» is a popular question game.
In the corpora
- If a friend is being gossiped about, be kind to her and tell a trusted adult rather than repeating the cruel words.
- A good answer comes with reasons, so ask "why?" rather than only "are you sure?".
- Parental controls are there for good reasons; talk about them rather than trying to trick them.
- Most venomous snakes would much rather warn you than bite you.
- He's kind and good-natured — though perhaps not very clever, and rather boastful and conceited.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «rather» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.