rather

单词音标

rather音标[\'ræðә]

汉语翻译

ad. 宁可, 稍微, 相当

相关词组:

rather than

rather...than otherwise

rather too

the rather that

英语解释

副词 rather:

on the contrary

同义词：instead

to some (great or small) extent

同义词：kind of, kinda, sort of

more readily or willingly

同义词：preferably, sooner

to a degree (not used with a negative)

同义词：quite

例句

Poultry is rather cheap now.

现在的禽肉相当便宜。

I would rather fail than cheat in the examination.

我宁愿考不及格，也不愿意考试作弊。

I\'d rather walk than take a bus.

我愿意走路而不愿意坐公共汽车。

I would rather stay at home.

我宁可呆在家里。

These shoes are rather too big.

这双鞋有点太大了。

详细解释

rath.er

adv.（副词）

More readily; preferably:

宁可：更愿意地；较合意地：

例句：

I`d rather go to the movies.

我宁愿去看电影

With more reason, logic, wisdom, or other justification.

较合理地：有更多原因、学识、逻辑或其他证明地

More exactly; more accurately:

更确切地；更精确地：

例句：

He`s my friend, or rather he was my friend.

他是我的朋友，不过更确切地说，他曾经是我的朋友

To a certain extent; somewhat:

相当地：达到一定程度地：

例句：

rather cold.

相当寒冷

On the contrary.

相反地

[r2.Yôr., rô.-] Chiefly British Most certainly. Used as an emphatic affirmative reply.

[r2.Yôr., rô.-] 【多用于英国】 当然：*肯定地。做为对肯定性回答的加强语气

来源：

Middle English

中古英语

from Old English hrathor [comparative of] hrôthe [quickly, soon]

源自 古英语 hrathor [] hrôthe的比较级 [快地，很快地]

from hrôth [quick]

源自 hrôth [快的]

In expressions of preferencerather is commonly preceded by would or in formal style should :

在表达选择的意思时rather 一词往往跟在 would 或更正式的形式 should 之后：

例句：

We would rather rent the house than buy it outright.

我们宁可租这幢房子，也不愿直接买下它。

例句：

I should rather my daughter attended a public school.

我希望我的女儿能上公立学校。

The use ofhad in these constructions may now be more infrequent than it once was but is still encountered in reputable writing:

在上述结构中使用had 现在没有过去常用， 但即使在十分著名的文章中，还能发现这种用法：

例句：

I had rather be dead than be a slave.

我宁可死去，也不愿意当奴隶。

This use ofhad was once widely criticized as a mistake, the result of a misanalysis of the contraction in sentences such asI`d rather stay. But it is in fact a survival of the subjunctive formhad that appears in constructions like had better and had best, as in

这种对had 的使用曾经招致广泛的批评， 人们认为这是由于对I`d rather stay 这句话简略形式的误解所致。 但实际上这是对例如在had better 或 had best 中 had 虚拟用法的延用，我们能说：

例句：

We had better leave her alone. (Notice that in these constructions would and should cannot be used.)

我们*好由她去（注意在这种句子中不可使用 would 或 should )。

This use ofhad shows an unbroken line of usage running back to Middle English, and traditional criticisms of these constructions are unfounded. ·Before an unmodified noun onlyrather a is used: It was rather a disaster. When the noun is preceded by an adjective, however, bothrather a and a rather are found: It was rather a boring party. It was a rather boring party. Whena rather is used in this construction, rather can be construed as qualifying only the adjective, whereas withrather a it can be construed as qualifying either the adjective or the entire noun phrase. Thusa rather long ordeal can mean only .an ordeal that is rather long,. whereasrather a long ordeal can also mean roughly .a long process that is something of an ordeal.. Rather a is the only possible choice when the adjective itself does not permit modification: The horse was rather a long shot (not The horse was a rather long shot ). See Usage Note at better should

Had 的这种使用方法可以一直追溯到中古英语， 但历史上并没有对此方法批评的记载。在一个没有修饰词的名词前，一般只使用rather a ： 真是一场灾难。 但当名词前有形容词时，rather a 和 a rather 就都能使用了： It was rather a boring party 。It was a rather a boring party 。 在这种搭配中，如果使用a rather ， rather 只是用来修饰这个形容词； 如果使用rather a， 那么同时修饰形容词和名词，即可认为修饰形容词也可以为修饰名词词组。 因此a rather long ordeal 的意思仅指布道很长， 而rather a long ordeal 则可概略地指一个.像布道似的漫长过程。. 如果形容词本身没有引申义，那么就只能使用rather a ： The horse was rather a long shot （而不是 The horse was a rather long shot ) 参见 bettershould