牛津实用英语语法:297 would rather/sooner和prefer/would prefe

　　would rather和would sooner之间没有区别，但经常听到的是would rather。

　　A would rather/sooner的主语与后面的动作的主语相同时，would rather/sooner之后常常接不带to的不定式：

　　Tom would rather read than talk.

　　汤姆宁可读书而不愿谈天。

　　1 would rather/sooner+ 不带to的不定式可用来表示现在的动作，以代替prefer+ 动名词：

　　Tom prefers reading to talking.

　　汤姆喜欢读书而不喜欢谈天。

　　注意：would rather后跟不带to的不定式+than+不带 to的不定式，而prefer后跟动名词+to+动名词。

　　prefer后面也可跟名词，而在would rather之后要求只带动词原形：

　　He prefers wine to beer.相当于：

　　He would rather drink wine than beer.

　　他喜欢喝红葡萄酒而不喜欢喝啤酒。

　　I prefer tennis to golf.相当于：

　　Id rather play tennis than golf.

　　我喜欢打网球而不喜欢打高尔夫球。

　　某些 prefer+ 名词的情况不能用 would rather完全确切地表达出来：He prefers dogs to cats(他喜欢狗而不喜欢猫)和 Hewould rather have dogs than cats(他宁可养狗而不愿养猫)意思并不完全相同。

　　2 would rather+ 不带 to的不定式不能表示过去的偏爱。所以与 Tom would rather read than talk相当的过去形式为 Tompreferred reading to talking/liked reading better than talking。(参见下面4。)

　　3 would rather+ 不带to的不定式可代替 would prefer+带 to的不定式：

　　Id rather fly than go by sea./Id prefer to fly.

　　我宁愿乘飞机也不愿乘船。

　　注意：用would prefer时，只提到你愿意做的这件事，而不提另外一件你不愿做的事，如上所述。因此，如想把愿意和不愿意的两个动作都提到，则要用would rather。

　　这两个结构后面带名词时情况也一样：

　　Would you like some gin?

　　Id prefer a coffee./Id rather have coffee than gin.

　　您想喝点杜松子酒吗?

　　我想喝点咖啡。/我想喝点咖啡，不想喝杜松子酒。

　　4 would rather/sooner和would prefer后面都可跟完成式，但后者带to：

　　We went by sea but Id rather have gone by air/Id prefer to have goneby air.

　　我们是乘船去的，可我本想乘飞机去。(我愿意乘飞机去，可我的愿望未能实现。)

　　这和 would like+ 不定式的完成式有点相似，would like+带to 的不定式的完成式也表示未能实现的愿望。

　　B 如句子的两个主语不相同，可用主语+ would rather/sooner后面跟主语+ 过去时(虚拟语气)结构：

　　Shall I give you a cheque?

　　Id rather you paid cash.

　　我付给您支票行吗?

　　我想您最好付现金。

　　注意：用would rather+主语+didnt表示带否定意义的偏爱：

　　Would you like him to paint it?

　　No，Id rather he didnt(paint it).

　　您想让他给它上油漆吗?

　　不，我希望他不要这么做。

　　Ann wants to tell Tom，but Id rather she didnt(tell him).

　　安想告诉汤姆，但我不想让她告诉他。

　　然而，prefer与like相同，后面都跟宾语+ 带to的不定式：

　　Id prefer you to pay cash.

　　我想你最好付现金。

　　Id prefer him not to paint it.

　　我不想让他给它上油漆。

　　Id prefer her not to tell Tom.

　　我不想让她告诉汤姆。