grammar - When to use "rather than" versus "instead of"?


I never really gave a deep thought at this but recently a teacher of talked about language and there was an implicit question in it. something like there is a difference between "rather than" and "instead of" in usage. do you know it??


please help and explain with a few examples.



Answer



Let's try some minimal pairs:



  • I walk rather than run


  • I walk instead of running




  • I eat apples rather than oranges




  • I eat apples instead of oranges




  • I walk quickly instead of quietly



  • I walk quickly rather than quietly


I don't really think there's much of a difference, except perhaps rather than implies preference whereas instead of implies substitution. But that might be nitpicking. And it doesn't seem to apply when using it to coordinate adverbs (last pair).


Also, there's a slight difference in the verb forms in the first pair, but there's not really a difference in meaning there.


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