Explanation
Use "would rather" to say what you prefer.
For example, "I'd rather stay home tonight." Here, "I'd rather" means "I prefer to," and "stay" is the base verb with no "to." "Home tonight" tells us the place and time. In Japanese, people often say "今夜は家にいたいです" or "今夜は家にいるほうがいいです." English keeps the preference in the fixed phrase "would rather."
"would rather" は、自分の希望や好みを言うときに使います。
例えば "I'd rather stay home tonight." では、"I'd rather" が "I prefer to" の意味で、"stay" は "to" のない原形です。"home tonight" が「家で、今夜」という意味を足しています。日本語なら「今夜は家にいたいです」「今夜は家にいるほうがいいです」と言えますが、英語ではこの好みを "would rather" という決まった形で表します。
Examples
- I'd rather stay home tonight. 今夜は家にいたいです。
- She would rather drink tea than coffee. 彼女はコーヒーよりお茶を飲みたいです。
- Would you rather take the train or the bus? 電車とバスなら、どちらに乗りたいですか。
- I would rather not go out tonight. 今夜は外出したくありません。
- They'd rather eat early and leave before the crowd comes. 彼らは早めに食べて、人が混む前に帰りたいです。
- I'd rather finish this now than do it later. あとでやるより、今これを終えたいです。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often say "I would rather to go home." After "would rather," use the base verb with no "to": "I would rather go home."
日本語話者は "would rather" の後に "to" を入れてしまいがちです。× "I would rather to go home." → ○ "I would rather go home." "would rather" の後ろは "to" なしの原形です。