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rather(adverb)BrE / ˈrɑːðə(r) / NAmE / ˈræðər / - used to mean ‘fairly’ or ‘to some degree’, often when you are expressing slight criticism, disappointment or surprise
- The instructions were rather complicated.
- She fell and hurt her leg rather badly.
- I didn't fail the exam; in fact I did rather well!
- It was a rather difficult question.
- It was rather a difficult question.
- He looks rather like his father.
- The patient has responded to the treatment rather better than expected.
- He was conscious that he was talking rather too much.
- The exam was fairly difficult.
- The exam was quite difficult.
- The exam was rather difficult.
- The exam was pretty difficult.
- I feel quite tired today
- I feel quite exhausted.
- Your essay is quite good
- Your essay is quite good
- used with a verb to make a statement sound less strong
- I rather suspect we're making a mistake.
- We were rather hoping you'd be able to do it by Friday.
- used to correct something you have said, or to give more accurate information
- She worked as a secretary, or rather, a personal assistant.
- In the end he had to walk—or rather run—to the office.
- Some poems are mnemonics, i.e. they are designed to help you remember something.
- Some poems are mnemonics, that is to say, they are designed to help you remember something.
- Mnemonic poems, that is poems designed to help you remember something, are an excellent way to learn lists.
- A limerick’s rhyme scheme is A–A–B–B–A. In other words, the first, second, and fifth lines all rhyme with one another, while the third and fourth lines have their own rhyme.
- In this exercise the reader is encouraged to work out the meaning, or rather the range of meanings, of the poem.
- This is a poem about death, or, more precisely, dying.
- He says his poems deal with ‘the big issues’, by which he means love, loss, grief and death.
- used to introduce an idea that is different or opposite to the idea that you have stated previously
- The walls were not white, but rather a sort of dirty grey.
- instead of somebody/something
- I think I'll have a cold drink rather than coffee.
- Why didn't you ask for help, rather than trying to do it on your own?
- used for saying that you would not like to do something that another person is going to do
- ‘I'm going climbing tomorrow.’ ‘Rather you than me!’
- would prefer to
- She'd rather die than give a speech.
- ‘Do you want to come with us?’ ‘No, I'd rather not.’
- Would you rather walk or take the bus?
- ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ ‘Well, I'd rather you didn't.’
- I like the red one better than/more than the green one.
- I prefer beef to lamb.
- I'd prefer to wait here.
- I'd rather go to the concert than the play.
- I think I'd rather stay in than go out tonight.
- I like swimming better than jogging.
- I think that colour's much more attractive.
- It doesn’t really matter to me whether we eat here or go out.
- I don't really mind whether we talk now or later.
- I’m happy either way.
- I don't really care either way.
- If it were up to me, I'd choose the green one.
- If you ask me, the old one looks better than the new one.
- I’m not an expert but Design B seems more eye-catching.
Extra Examples- I didn’t fail the exam; in fact I did rather well!
- I’m sorry, I’ve got rather a lot on my mind.
- It’s a rather difficult question.
- Recently she’d been thinking about him rather too much.
- She looked rather well after her night in hospital.
- The rules are rather complicated.
- They’d had rather a lot to drink.
Word Origin- Old English hrathor ‘earlier, sooner’, comparative of hræthe ‘without delay’, from hræth ‘prompt’, of Germanic origin.
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