Episode 134 Confused? 'I like' OR 'I prefer'? 'I wouldn't prefer' OR 'I'd rather not'? Don't worry, I've Got You! Correctly Express Your Preferences In English Today.

On today's episode we're talking about preferences: 'I prefer chocolate to ice cream'. I'll review the grammar and difference in grammar between 'like' and 'prefer' as well as the different vocabulary you might use in English to express your preference for something. We're discussing phrases such as 'I prefer', 'I would rather' and 'my preference is'. We'll also go into the negative version of these phrases (which isn't always the same 😣😵😬) and I'll give you lots of examples. Examples from the Episode I like reading and walking I like to read and walk I prefer reading to walking I prefer to read. I prefer to read rather than walk. I prefer chocolate to ice cream. I would rather eat chocolate than ice cream. My preference is for chocolate. I don't like fishing, I don't like to fish. A: Would you prefer pizza or burgers? B: I would prefer to have pizza. A: Okay, but we could still go for burgers though, right? B: Actually, I don't like burgers When using the negative we can't use the same grammar structure as 'like'. 'I don't prefer' and 'I wouldn't rather' don't work. Instead we have to change the grammar a littie: I would rather not. I would prefer not to. I would rather not have burgers. Can we try something else? I would prefer not to have burgers. My preference isn't for burgers My preference isn't to have burgers. Additional Vocabulary The more the merrier - idiom - used when we want to say we're happy for more people to join something. subtle suggestion - if something is subtle, then it isn't obvious. Sometimes when we're trying to be polite we're not able to be very obvious about things we don't like so we will say it subtly, sometimes this means we are misunderstood. an excuse - something we give as a reason for some kind of unacceptable behaviour scrap what I just said - scrap is waste, so this means don't pay attention to or throw out what I just said. they made out like - there are several meanings for 'made out' but in this case it means someone pretended or suggested something.