Prefer and Would rather

Prefer to … and Prefer -ing

When you talk about what you prefer in general, you can use prefer to … or prefer -ing:

• I don’t like open offices. I prefer to work from home. or I prefer working from home.

There are three patterns:

Pattern	Structure	Example
prefer something to something else	noun + to + noun	I prefer email to phone calls.
prefer doing something to doing something else	-ing + to + -ing	I prefer driving to the office to travelling by train.
prefer doing something rather than (doing) something else	-ing + rather than + -ing / base verb	I prefer driving rather than travelling by train.
prefer to do something rather than (do) something else	to + base verb + rather than + base verb	I prefer to drive rather than travel by train.

More examples:

• I prefer this layout to the old one.
• Sarah prefers to live near the office rather than in the suburbs.

Would Prefer (I’d Prefer …)

Use would prefer to say what somebody wants in a specific situation, not in general.

• “Would you prefer tea or coffee?” “Coffee, please.”

Say would prefer to do something (not usually “would prefer doing”):

• “Shall we go by train?” “I‘d prefer to drive.” (= I would prefer)
• I‘d prefer to stay at the office tonight rather than go to the dinner.

Would Rather (I’d Rather …)

I’d rather = I would rather. It means the same as I’d prefer to, but the grammar is different.

After would rather, use the base verb — no “to.”

Would rather	Would prefer
“Shall we go by train?” “I‘d rather drive.” (not to drive)	“I‘d prefer to drive.”
Which would you rather do, go to the meeting or stay here?	Which would you prefer to do?

The negative is I’d rather not …:

• I’m tired. I‘d rather not go out this evening, if you don’t mind.
• “Do you want to go to the conference?” “I‘d rather not.”

Use than to compare two options:

• I‘d rather stay at the office tonight than go to the dinner.

I’d Rather Somebody Did Something

When you want somebody else to do (or not do) something, use I’d rather + subject + past tense. The past form does not refer to the past — the meaning is present or future.

• “Who’s going to lead the call, you or me?” “I‘d rather you led it.” (= I would prefer this)
• “Tom says he’ll send the report tomorrow, OK?” “I‘d rather he sent it today.”
• Are you going to tell the manager what happened, or would you rather I told her?

Compare:

Same person	Another person
I‘d rather prepare the slides now.	I‘d rather you prepared the slides now. (not I’d rather you prepare)

The negative is I’d rather you didn’t …:

• I‘d rather you didn’t mention this to anyone in the team.
• “Shall I forward the email to finance?” “I‘d rather you didn’t.”
• “Are you going to tell the client about the delay?” “No. I‘d rather she didn’t know yet.”

Summary Table

Structure	Form	Meaning	Example
prefer + to / -ing	general preference	What you like in general	I prefer working from home to commuting.
would prefer + to do	specific situation	What you want right now	I‘d prefer to take a taxi.
would rather + base verb	specific situation	Same as would prefer, different grammar	I‘d rather take a taxi.
would rather + subject + past	asking someone else	You want another person to act	I‘d rather you took a taxi.
would rather not	negative	You prefer not to do something	I‘d rather not wait.
would rather + subject + didn’t	negative (someone else)	You prefer someone else not to act	I‘d rather you didn’t wait.

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