This “rather” needs no punctuation with it. So, no comma before rather in this case. It modifies a certain word and should be attached to said word without any separators.

phrase. You use rather than when you are contrasting two things or situations. Rather than introduces the thing or situation that is not true or that you do not want. The problem was psychological rather than physiological.

Based on Cambridge Online Dictionary, the word can be used at the beginning of the sentence in two situations: “rather” could be used as an exclamation meaning “yes” or “certainly”. Though it sounds really outdated. “rather” is used to convey an opinion in contrast to what was previously mentioned.

It is usually used with an adverb (so much, so tightly) or an adjective (so dirty), but it can also be put at the end in ‘Don’t grumble so!’

When the main clause has a to – infinitive, rather than is usually followed by an infinitive without to or -ing form. e.g – I decided to write rather than phone/phoning. Instead of – suggests that one person, thing or action replaces another. Instead is not used alone as a preposition; we use the two words instead of.

I’d rather stay at home than go out tonight. I’d rather you stayed at home tonight. I’d rather not go out tonight..

However, when we are talking about specifics, would rather is used as an alternative to would prefer to followed by an infinitive. Would rather is very common in spoken English and is often abbreviated to ‘d rather. It is used in this form with all personal pronouns: I’d / you’d / he’d / she’d / we’d / they’d rather…

My brother prefers watching football to playing it. I would prefer to come early rather than be late. My students usually prefer painting with watercolours. I would prefer Mozart to Bach.

‘Would rather’ can also be used with a past tense but the meaning is present. For example: I would rather he played football this year. The difference is that we have two subjects so we use a past tense. After the second subject we use a past tense.

“I rather” is and alternative to quite. It’s the sort of thing a posh person would say, it doesn’t add that much to the sentence. “I rather like this car” has basically the same meaning as “I quite like this car”. “I would rather” means that you prefer something to something else.

Instead sentence example

1. I will try to make friends instead of enemies.
2. I always pictured myself driving a van instead of a truck.
3. Instead of dining out, we ordered a couple of pizzas.
4. Instead of improving, Destiny got steadily worse.
5. Instead of shifting with each step, the ground felt solid.

When we speak about a specific preference, would rather and would prefer have the same meaning and are interchangeable. We went to the theatre yesterday. Today I would rather go to the cinema. Today I would prefer to go to the cinema.

Exercise 1

• 1I prefer brown sugar. to.
• 2I don’t want to go out. I’d rather.
• 3I like trekking in the mountains, but I prefer. lying.
• 4I’d rather go in December. that.
• 5I’d rather come with you. than staying.
• 6I prefer travelling by bus. rather than travel.
• 7I usually have tea, but today I’d prefer.
• 8I’d prefer to read for a while.