English Idioms3

gerardM a écrit:

Hi Muriel,

> The verb prefer is normally used with "to" instead of than.
No Muriel.

It depends on the pattern (verb/verb, noun/noun, etc).

>  to prefer to walk rather than to take the bus préférer y aller à pied plutôt que de prendre le bus
This is a special example (verb comparison).
Regarding noun comparison, it depends on the region: some prefer "to", some others prefer "than"; we also find "over", "or", "between"...

In this short topic on Word Reference, an American guy uses prefer than or prefer over while a French guy responds with prefer to.

Index on Word Reference:

Discussions du forum dont le titre comprend le(s) mot(s) "prefer" :
although I prefer this spelling
as you prefer
But I Prefer To Spend It Straightening My Hair
Do you have it in a different colour please? I would prefer
Do you prefer Jean or Jean-François?
Do you prefer straight handlebars or drop handlebars?
Domagtu prefer dormir q me parle....tu ne marq pa de pnt.
EN: prefer -> preferred / offer -> offered - grammaire
EN: prefer + to-infinitive / V-ing - grammaire
EN: prefer to / over / than - grammaire
EN: prefer X / like X better (best) - grammaire
EN: prefer X to / rather than / instead of Y - grammaire
FR: although I'd prefer not to - grammaire
FR: Do you prefer cats or dogs? - grammaire
FR: Do you prefer to communicate - grammaire
FR: Do you prefer to take your crepes with X or Y? - grammaire
FR: Each film is good, but I prefer - grammaire
FR: I prefer French romantic comedies to American ones - grammaire
FR: I prefer he kills me than my mother - grammaire
FR: I prefer he visit me, but I'm not sure he can - grammaire
FR: I prefer that menu, don't you? - grammaire
FR: I prefer that they don't find about this - grammaire
FR: I prefer to visit - grammaire
FR: I would prefer it if you could make the dinner tonight - grammaire
FR: I would prefer not to change it - grammaire
FR: I would prefer that he was intelligent. - grammaire
FR: kinds of sports students prefer - grammaire
FR: Of which of Tremblay's pieces of theatre do you prefer? - grammaire
FR: prefer not to go there - grammaire
FR: prefer walking to having himself driven - grammaire
Suite...

You can also refer to:
-> Word Reference - EN: prefer to / over / than
-> Word Reference - prefer to / than ?

cutiepie1892 (Northern Ireland English) - You can't really say it like that because "to prefer...to..." is a set phrase - it doesn't work if you substitute other words into it.
If you wanted to use the word than you would have to say something like "I would rather cook than do the washing up"
Hope it helps

I particularly like:

You could probably get away with "I would rather cook than wash up" but no, you can't say "I would rather cook than washing up" - if you have an
-ing ending on one very you need to have it on the other as well

Again, we must consider the patterns verb/verb, noun/noun; we cannot have verb/noun (-ing form is considered as a noun)

Gerard a écrit:keep and grow pleasure...

gerardM a écrit:

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~~ edit
Yes I already posted this one -> https://www.cafe-polyglotte.com/t5799-english-idioms-3#43398 anyway

“I didn’t make it a priority,” instead of saying,  “I didn’t have time.”