Would rather, Would sooner, Would prefer, Prefer (Explained IN Hindi)

विशिष्ट प्राथमिकताएँ (Specific Preferences)

A) जब हम विशिष्ट प्राथमिकताओं की बात करते हैं तो, ‘would rather’ and ‘would prefer’ का एक ही अर्थ होता है और दोनों में से किसी का भी use किया जा सकता है; जैसे

We went to the theatre yesterday. Today I would rather go to the cinema.
= We went to the theatre yesterday. Today I would prefer to go to the cinema.

B) ‘Would rather’ के साथ bare infinitive (V1 without TO) का use होता है; जबकि ‘would prefer’ के साथ  full infinitive (to + V1) अथवा noun का use होता है; जैसे

i) I’d rather have fruit juice.
ii) I’d prefer to have fruit juice.

C) जब हम दूसरे लोगों के द्वारा की जाने वाली activities की बात करते हैं तो ‘would rather’ के बाद past tense का use किया जाता है, चाहे उनके द्वारा की जाने वाली activities present अथवा future tense में ही क्यों ना हों; जैसे

i) I’d rather you took a taxi – it’s not safe on the streets at night.
ii) The film is quite violent. I’d rather our children didn’t watch it.

D) हम ये कहते हैं: ‘would rather . . . than’; और ‘would prefer . . . rather than/instead of’; जैसे

i) It’s such nice weather – I’d rather sit in the garden than watch TV.
ii) It’s such nice weather – I’d prefer to sit in the garden rather than watch TV.

सामान्य प्राथमिकताएँ (General Preferences)

A) जब हम सामान्य प्राथमिकताओं की बात करते हैं तो हम ‘prefer’ अथवा ‘would rather’ का use करते हैं, इन दोनों ही के अर्थ एक समान होते हैं; जैसे

I prefer walking to cycling.
= I would rather walk than cycle.

B) ‘Prefer’ के बाद gerund (ing form) use की जाती है जबकि ‘would rather’ के बाद bare infinitive (V1 without TO) use की जाती है; जैसे

i) I prefer using a keyboard to writing with a pen.
ii) I’d rather use a keyboard than write with a pen.

C) हम कहते हैं: ‘prefer . . . to . . .’; और ‘would rather . . . than . . .’

i) I prefer walking to driving.
ii) I’d rather walk than drive.

1. WOULD RATHER

‘Would rather’ (‘d rather) का use एक बात को किसी अन्य बात की अपेक्षा अधिक पसंद करने के लिए किया जाता है. ‘Would rather’ को दो विभिन प्रकार से use किया जाता है; जैसे .

CASE-I: जब subject एक ही हो (Single Subject)

जब subject एक ही हो तो सकारात्मक वाक्यों (affirmative sentences) में ‘would rather + V1’, का use होता है और नकारात्मक वाक्यों (negative sentences) में ‘would rather not + V1’ का use होता है; जैसे

I’d rather go out tonight.

INCORRECT: We’d rather to go on Monday.
CORRECT: We’d rather go on Monday.

INCORRECT: I’d rather not to fly. I hate planes
CORRECT: I’d rather not fly. I hate planes.

NOTE-I: अगर हमें past time की कोई बात कहनी हो तो ‘would rather + have + V3’ का use होता है; जैसे

a) She would rather have spent the money on a holiday. (अर्थात उसको पैसा खर्च कर देने को prefer करना चाहिए था; लेकिन उसने किया नहीं.)
b) I’d rather have seen the movie at the cinema than on DVD.

NOTE-II: अगर ‘would rather’ के बाद शब्द ‘than’ दिया हुआ हो तो ‘than’ के बाद bare infinitive (V1 without TO) का use किया जाता है; जैसे

I’d rather stay at home than go out tonight.

CASE-II: जब subject अलग-अलग हों (Different Subjects)

जब दोनों clauses के subject अलग-अलग हों तो present अथवा future की बात कहने के लिए Past Simple Tense का use होता है, और past की बात कहने के लिए Past Perfect Tense का use होता है ; जैसे

a) I would rather they did something about it instead of just talking about it. (tense Past Simple है, अर्थात हम present अथवा future की बात कह रहे हैं.)
b) I’d rather you stayed at home tonight.
c) I’d rather you hadn’t rung me at work. (tense Past Perfect है, अर्थात हम past की बात कह रहे हैं.)

INCORRECT: Would you rather I’m not honest with you? [इस वाक्य के दोनों clauses के subject भिन्न हैं; अतः आप यहाँ V1 का use नहीं कर सकते; देखिये इस वाक्य में V1 ‘am’ का use किया गया है.]
CORRECT: Would you rather I wasn’t honest with you?

NOTE-I: जब दोनों clauses के subject अलग-अलग हों तो नकारात्मक वाक्यों negative sentences) में शब्द ‘not’ दूसरे clause में use किया जाता है, ‘would rather’ के साथ नहीं; जैसे

INCORRECT: She wouldn’t rather you phoned after 10 o’clock.
CORRECT: She’d rather you didn’t phone after 10 o’clock.

NOTE-II: ऊपर बताये गये दोनों ही cases में preferences को और बल देने के लिए ‘would much rather’ का use किया जा सकता है; जैसे

a) I’d much rather make a phone call than send an email.
b) She’d much rather they didn’t know about what had happened.

2. WOULD SOONER

‘Would sooner’ और ‘would rather’ दोनों ही एक बात हैं, इसलिए इन दोनों के use भी एक समान हैं; जैसे

I don’t really want to go back to Mumbai again this year. I’d rather go to Pune.
= I don’t really want to go back to Mumbai again this year. I’d sooner go to Pune.

NOTE: ‘Would just as soon’ भी इन दोनों के समान ही होता है; जैसे

Thanks for the invitation, but, if you don’t mind, we’d just as soon stay at home and watch it all on TV.

3. WOULD PREFER

A) Present और future के लिए ‘would prefer’ (‘d prefer) का use  full infinitive (TO + V1) अथवा किसी noun के साथ होता है; जैसे

i) I’d prefer to go by myself.
ii) Would you prefer a quieter restaurant?
iii) She’d prefer not to drive at night.

B) जब हम ये कहना चाहते हैं कि हमें एक कार्य को करना किसी दूसरे कार्य को करने की अपेक्षा ज्यादा पसंद है तो हम दूसरे वाले कार्य के सामने ‘rather than + V1’ का use करते हैं जैसे

I’d prefer to go skiing this year rather than go on a beach holiday.

C) जब हम किसी और आदमी के द्वारा किये जाने वाले action के बारे में अपनी प्राथमिकता (preference) बताते हैं तो हम ‘would prefer + objective pronoun + to-V1’ अथवा ‘would prefer it if + past simple tense’ का use कर सकते हैं; जैसे

They’d prefer us to come later.
= They’d prefer it if we came later.

Would you prefer me to drive?
= Would you prefer it if I drove?

D) अगर हमारी wish है काश कोई स्थिति (situation) अलग तरह की होती तो ‘Would prefer it if’  का use भी किया जा सकता है; जैसे  

Sales have gone down, and obviously we’d prefer it if that didn’t happen.

4. PREFER

हम ‘prefer’ का use तब करते हैं जब हम किसी एक बात को किसी दूसरी बात से अधिक पसंद करते हैं.

हम ‘prefer’ के बाद में full infinitive (TO + V1) का use करते हैं; bare infinitive (V1 without TO) का नहीं; जैसे

INCORRECT: I prefer drive.
CORRECT: I prefer to drive.

INCORRECT: Whenever I have time I like to read but I prefer not read in the evening.
CORRECT: Whenever I have time I like to read but I prefer not to read in the evening.

NOTE: हम ‘prefer’ के बाद gerund (ing form) का use भी कर सकते हैं; जैसे

She’s not keen on coffee. She prefers to drink tea.
= She prefers drinking tea to coffee.

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WOULD RATHER, WOULD SOONER, WOULD PREFER, PREFER (EXPLAINED IN ENGLISH)

Specific Preferences

A) When we speak about a specific preference (preference for a specific activity), ‘would rather’ and ‘would prefer’ have the same meaning and are interchangeable; e.g.

We went to the theatre yesterday. Today I would rather go to the cinema.
= We went to the theatre yesterday. Today I would prefer to go to the cinema.

B) ‘Would rather’ is followed by ‘infinitive without TO’; whereas ‘would prefer’ is followed by ‘to + infinitive or a noun’; e.g.

i) I’d rather have fruit juice.
ii) I’d prefer to have fruit juice.

C) We use a past tense after ‘would rather’ when we speak about the actions of other people, even though that action may be in the present or future.

i) I’d rather you took a taxi – it’s not safe on the streets at night.
ii) The film is quite violent. I’d rather our children didn’t watch it.

D) We say: ‘would rather . . . than’; and we say ‘would prefer . . . rather than/instead of’

i) It’s such nice weather – I’d rather sit in the garden than watch TV.
ii) It’s such nice weather – I’d prefer to sit in the garden rather than watch TV.

General Preferences

A) When we talk about general preferences (not a specific activity), we can use ‘prefer’ or ‘would rather’. The meaning is the same.

I prefer walking to cycling.
= I would rather walk than cycle.

B) After ‘prefer’ we use the verb in the ‘ing form’ whereas after ‘would rather’ we use the ‘infinitive without TO’; e.g.

i) I prefer using a keyboard to writing with a pen.
ii) I’d rather use a keyboard than write with a pen.

C) We say: ‘prefer . . . to . . .’; and we say: ‘would rather . . . than . . .’

i) I prefer walking to driving.
ii) I’d rather walk than drive.

1. WOULD RATHER

We use ‘would rather’ (‘d rather) to talk about preferring one thing to another. ‘Would rather’ has two different constructions; e.g.

CASE-I: Single Subject

When the subject is one, we use ‘would rather + V1’ in the affirmative sentences, and ‘would rather not + V1’ in the negative sentences; e.g.

I’d rather go out tonight.

INCORRECT: We’d rather to go on Monday.
CORRECT: We’d rather go on Monday.

INCORRECT: I’d rather not to fly. I hate planes
CORRECT: I’d rather not fly. I hate planes.

NOTE-I: When we want to refer to the past we use ‘would rather + have + V3’; e.g.

a) She would rather have spent the money on a holiday. (Means she should have preferred to spend the money, but it was not spent.)
b) I’d rather have seen the movie at the cinema than on DVD.

NOTE-II: If word ‘than’ is there after ‘would rather’, we use the bare infinitive (V1 without TO) after ‘than’ also; e.g.

I’d rather stay at home than go out tonight.

CASE-II: Different Subjects

When the subjects of the two clauses are different, to talk about the present or future we use the past simple, and to talk about the past we use the past perfect; e.g.

a) I would rather they did something about it instead of just talking about it. (the tense is the past simple, means we are talking about the present or future)
b) I’d rather you stayed at home tonight.
c) I’d rather you hadn’t rung me at work. (the tense is the past perfect, means we are talking about the past)

INCORRECT: Would you rather I’m not honest with you? [Different subjects in different clauses, so you can’t use V1; you see here V1 ‘am’ is used.]
CORRECT: Would you rather I wasn’t honest with you? (the tense is the past simple, means we are talking about the present or future)

NOTE-I: In negative sentences with different subjects, we use ‘not’ in the second clause, not with ‘would rather’; e.g.

INCORRECT: She wouldn’t rather you phoned after 10 o’clock.
CORRECT: She’d rather you didn’t phone after 10 o’clock.

NOTE-II: In both the cases I and II, we can use ‘would much rather’ to make the preference stronger; e.g.

a) I’d much rather make a phone call than send an email.
b) She’d much rather they didn’t know about what had happened.

2. WOULD SOONER

‘Would sooner’ and ‘would rather’ are the same thing, therefore their uses also are the same; e.g.

I don’t really want to go back to Mumbai again this year. I’d rather go to Pune.
= I don’t really want to go back to Mumbai again this year. I’d sooner go to Pune.

NOTE: ‘Would just as soon’ also is equivalent to ‘would rather/would sooner’; e.g.

Thanks for the invitation, but, if you don’t mind, we’d just as soon stay at home and watch it all on TV.

3. WOULD PREFER

‘Would prefer’, ‘had sooner’ and ‘had rather’ are the same thing; both are replaceable with each other; e.g.

I had rather you let me do the driving,
= He’d sooner switch than fight. This idiom today is often replaced by would rather.

A) We use ‘would prefer’ (‘d prefer) with to-infinitive or noun, to talk about present and future preferences; e.g.

a) I’d prefer to go by myself.
b) Would you prefer a quieter restaurant?
c) She’d prefer not to drive at night.

B) When we want to say that we would like to do one thing more than another, we can introduce the second thing with ‘rather than + V1’; e.g.

I’d prefer to go skiing this year rather than go on a beach holiday.

C) When we are talking about our preferences for the actions of another person, we can use ‘would prefer + objective pronoun + to-V1’ or ‘would prefer it if + past simple tense’; e.g.

They’d prefer us to come later.
= They’d prefer it if we came later.

Would you prefer me to drive?
= Would you prefer it if I drove?

D) ‘Would prefer it if’ is also used to say that you wish a situation was different; e.g. 

Sales have gone down, and obviously we’d prefer it if that didn’t happen.

4. PREFER

We use ‘prefer’ to say we like one thing or activity more than another.

We use a to-infinitive after ‘prefer’, not an infinitive without to:

INCORRECT: I prefer drive.
CORRECT: I prefer to drive.

INCORRECT: Whenever I have time I like to read but I prefer not read in the evening.
CORRECT: Whenever I have time I like to read but I prefer not to read in the evening.

NOTE: We can also use ing-form after ‘prefer’.

She’s not keen on coffee. She prefers to drink tea.
= She prefers drinking tea to coffee.

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