rather than 意爲“而不是”、“而沒有”，側重客觀上的差別，還可以表示“與其……，倒不如（或寧可）……”，側重句子主語或說話人主觀上的選擇。句中 rather than 前後一般應爲名詞、代詞、動名詞、形容詞、謂語動詞、動詞不定式、介詞短語，甚至分句等。下面小編來爲大家介紹下rather than 的用法說明，希望對大家有用。 rather than 的用法說明如下： 一、rather than 接名詞 1. He is an artist rather than a politician. 他是位藝術家，而不是政治家。（與其說他是政治家，倒不如說他是藝術家。） 2. We ought to invest in new machinery rather than building. 我們該在新機器上而不是在建築上投資。 3. What attracted him is her personality rather than her beauty. 吸引他的是她的人格魅力,而不是她的美貌。 二、rather than 接代詞 1. It ought to be me rather than you that sign the letter. 在信上簽名的該是我，而不是你。 2. The person who should be praised is you rather than me. 該受到表揚的人是你，而不是我。 三、rather than 接動名詞 1. I always prefer getting up early rather than going to school without breakfast. 我總是願意早起牀，而不願不吃早飯就去上學。 2. He enjoys reading rather than watching TV. 他喜歡讀書而不喜歡看電視。 3. He was engaged in writing rather than reading the newspaper. 他在忙着寫東西，而不是在看報紙。 四、rather than 接形容詞 1. I call her hair chestnut rather than brown. 我寧願說她的頭髮是栗色的，而不願說她的頭髮是棕色的。 2. Taking exercise every day makes him look younger rather than older. 每天鍛鍊身體使他顯得年輕而不是年老。 3. The colour seems green rather than blue. 這顏色好像是綠的，而不是藍的。 五、rather than 接謂語動詞 1. She telephoned rather than wrote. 她打了電話，而沒有寫信。 2. She cried rather than smiled. 她哭了，而不是笑了。 3. He would die rather than give up smoking. 他寧死也不願戒菸。 六、rather than 接動詞不定式 1. I decided to write rather than （ to ） telephone. 我決定寫信而不打電話。 2. She likes to keep things rather than （ to ） throw them away. 她喜歡把東西保存起來而不是隨手將其扔掉。 3. Rather than go there, I'd prefer to stay here on my own. 我寧願一個人呆在這兒，而不願去那兒。 七、rather than 接介詞短語 1. I'd prefer to go in summer rather than in winter. 我寧願夏天去，而不願冬天去。 2. We'll have tea in the garden rather than in the house. 我們要在花園裏喝茶而不想在屋裏喝茶。 3. She is reading in the library rather than in the classroom. 她正在圖書館裏看書而不是在教室裏。 八、rather than 接分句 1. John went to the seaside yesterday rather than he went where he often goes. 約翰昨天到海濱去了，沒到他常去的地方。 2. You should help me rather than I should help you. 你應當幫我，而不是我應當幫你。 3. We should know what he meant rather than what he said. 我們應該知道他的真實想法而不是他說了什麼。 注意： 1. rather than 很像並列連詞。其前後都應是相互對應的詞語，但接不定式時，常可省去不定式符號 to 。 2. rather than 也可分開使用，和 would 或 had 構成“ would / had rather … than ”結構， than 前後也是相互對等的結構。試比較： 1) She would rather have the small one than the large one. 她寧願要小的，也不願要大的。 2) Tom would rather be liked than feared. 湯姆寧願受人愛戴，而不願讓人懼怕。 3) Wouldn't you rather be liked than feared? 你不是寧願受人愛戴，而不願讓人懼怕嗎？ 但當 would rather 被用作謂語動詞後接賓語從句時，從句中的謂語動詞應爲虛擬形式。例如： I'd rather you came tomorrow than today. 我寧願明天來，而不是今天來。 3. :rather than連接兩個主語時,謂語動詞的數與前面主語的數相一致。如: Jean, rather than her brothers, is to meet her parents. 是瓊而不是她的兄弟們去接她父母。 rather than 辨析: 1．would rather…than/other than/rather than/or rather （1）would rather do sth. than do sth. else“寧願做某事而不願做別的”，表示主觀願望。使用這一結構時，than前後兩部分的成分應對等。如果than後是動詞，要用原形。例如： He would rather have the small one than the big one. 他寧願要小的，而不願要大的。 He would rather sell his vegetables at half price than allow them to go bad. 他寧肯把菜半價賣了，也不願讓它們爛掉。 would rather後還可跟賓語從句，從句的謂語用過去時態。 （2）rather than“而不是”，不表示主觀願望，而表示一個事實，不和would連用。注意rather than後的動詞要和主句中與之相當的動詞在形式上一致。rather than位於句首時，其後的動詞必須用－ing形式。例如： He ran all the way rather than walked. 他一路跑而不是走。 I think Tom, rather than you, is to blame. 我認爲是湯姆而不是你應受責備。 Rather than being punished, he should be rewarded. 他應受獎勵而不是受懲罰。 另外, rather和than還可分開使用，前後詞的形式要求同rather than。例如： I am rather bored than tired. 我與其說是疲憊不如說是厭倦。 rather than還可以表示“而不願”的意思，此時rather than後總是跟動詞原形。例如： Rather than allow the vegetable to go bad, he sold them at half price. 他把菜半價賣掉，而不願讓它們爛掉。 （3）or rather“與其說……不如說……；更確切地說；並非那樣，而是……”。例如： I'll meet him, or rather I'll ask him to meet me. 我要會見他，或者更確切地說，我要請他來見我?。 （4）other than“除了……；除了……以外”，通常用於否定句中。例如： I can't do other than obey. 除了服從，我別無他法。
