Rather Than and Instead Of

RATHER THAN and INSTEAD OF

Both terms are valid to refer preference (for a subject, a type of food, a day of the week, etc.) or show that you would prefer one thing over another one.

Let’s see how they work:

If you say:

-        I prefer HBO BETTER THAN Netflix

This shows a comparison and preference between two things – You can use MUCH BETTER, A LOT BETTER, A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER, to reinforce your position, opinion, statement etc.

USING RATHER THAN:

-        I prefer HBO RATHER THAN Netflix ALWAYS

-        I watch HBO RATHER THAN Netflix MOST OF THE TIMES

-        RATHER THAN Netflix I prefer HBO MUCH BETTER

USING INSTEAD OF:

-        I prefer HBO INSTEAD OF Netflix TWICE AS MUCH

-        I watch HBO INSTEAD OF Netflix MORE OFTEN

-        INSTEAD OF Netflix, I prefer HBO A THOUSAND TIMES

Now let’s see how it works with the auxiliary verb WOULD:

-        I WOULD RATHER watch HBO than/over Netflix / I WOULD MUCH RATHER watch HBO than Netflix (Notice that OVER can replace THAN in this case).

-        I WOULD WATCH HBO INSTEAD OF Netflix/ I WOULD WATCH HBO INSTEAD OF Netflix A THOUSAND TIMES

Using would we can see a clearer difference between both terms:

-        I WOULD RATHER: YO PREFERIRÍA (ALWAYS FOLLOWED BY A VERB)

NOTE: WITH RATHER WE DON’T NORMALLY USE THE VERB “PREFER” IT WOULD SOUND REDUNDANT BUT IT IS POSSIBLE.

-        My dog WOULD RATHER eat chicken than beef.

-        Michael WOULD RATHER play golf than tennis

-        Ellie WOULD RATHER sing than dance

-        Casey ant Thomas WOULD RATHER prefer ski than snowboard THIS SOUNDS BETTER: Casey and Thomas WOULD RATHER ski than snowboard

INSTEAD OF: EN VEZ DE/ EN LUGAR DE

-        I WOULD watch HBO INSTEAD OF Netflix : Yo miraría hbo EN VEZ DE Netflix

-        Carla WOULD visit her parents in November INSTEAD OF December

-        Liam WOULD learn mandarin INSTEAD OF Japanese

-        My grandparents WOULD/ PREFER TO buy a house INSTEAD OF an apartment

-        Ann PREFERS TO take the bus INSTEAD OF riding her bike

Now let’s see BOTH in one sentence:

NOTE: (INSTEAD OF REPLACES THAN)

-        Most people RATHER use totes INSTEAD OF plastic bags

-        Athletes RATHER eat vegetables INSTEAD OF fast food

-        My coworkers WOULD MUCH RATHER celebrate Saint Valentine’s day INSTEAD OF Saint Patrick´s day

-        Tourists WOULD RATHER visit Grand Canyon INSTEAD OF Yellow Stone

-        INSTEAD OF ice cream, some children WOULD RATHER eat pie or cake