In sentence, “rather than” sounds like “in place of someone/something”. And, “in stead of” denotes like as an alternative of in terms of choices. Both “Rather than and instead of” play role to choosing other alternatives in place of already available one. Let’s understand the difference between “rather than and instead of”.
Understanding Rather Than And Instead Of definitions and examples
These both connectors have much importance in English grammar while constructing meaningful sentences.
Both the phrases express alternative choices against already available options. “Instead of is more emphatic or stronger than the rather than”
Suppose you have given two options. But, You preferred other rejecting earlier one. When your friend asked you “What would you prefer in breakfast milk or juice? ” If you usually take milk, but that day you may say like” I would prefer juice rather than milk”.
Explanation of Rather than phrase and conjunction
Rather than acts like a conjunction which joins two similar things like nouns, adverbs, adjectives infinitives and gerunds. Mostly, Rather than is preferred in parallel statements.
1.I prefer cold drinks rather than snacks.
2.Hidden meaning of”Rather than” is in place of.
3.In place of cold drinks, I would prefer to have snacks.
When rather than is used as preposition, no need to balance the sentence by using similar words in sentences.
Use of rather than in English sentences.
1.I prefer cold drinks rather than snacks.
2.He invested his hard earned money in business rather than luxurious items.
3.They are ready to compromise rather than fight once again.
4.Rather than sending own son abroad for higher studies, he gave him field experience in their traditional business.
While in case of infinitive and gerund, ‘to’ and ‘ing’ form of verb is omitted when main clause in sentence has a “to infinitive”. Simply, do not use ‘to’ and ‘ing’ form with base verbs when first part of the sentence contains ‘to + verb’.
- Wrong sentence: They are ready to compromise rather than to fight or fighting once again.
- Correct sentence : They are ready to compromise rather than fight once again.
- Wrong sentence : He decided to hire a labor rather than to cut the grass himself.
- Correct sentence: He decided to hire a labor rather than cut the grass himself.
Explaining Instead of phrase and conjunction
Instead of acts like a preposition. It is used to replace one thing by another as it provides an alternative to earlier thing. It may be an action or person.
“Of” in the “instead of” is a preposition and needs a noun as an object.
Examples of Instead of :
- I will have breakfast instead of tea or coffee.
- We should face the situation instead of providing excuses.
- Meeting is held on Friday instead of Monday.
Generally, Instead of is not followed by an infinitive. As it works like a preposition and doesn’t introduce verb or verb phrase.
Wrong sentence: I will wait a while instead of to stuck into the traffic.
Correct sentence : I will wait a while instead of sticking into the traffic.
Instead (without of ) works like an adverb. It always takes a clause before or after it.
He didn’t accept the offer. Instead, he recommended his friend for that job.
This is a short synopsis about the difference between rather than and instead of.
Describing functions of Preposition
Alternative coordinating conjunctions
Conjunctions for alternative choices
Simple past and perfect past tense
Prepositions of time place agency