Rather

[Silvia B]

Hi all!!

I have a doubt...would someone be so kind to explain the use of "rather"?

For example, if I say:
I've rather not to listen to those stupid comments
is it a correct translation of
farei meglio a non ascoltare (non dar retta) a quei stupidi commenti ?

Grazie!!

 

[shamblesuk]

Small correction.

Hi all!!

I have a doubt...would someone be so kind to explain the use of "rather"?

For example, if I say:
I'd rather not listen to those stupid comments

is it a correct translation of
farei meglio a non ascoltare (non dar retta) a quei stupidi commenti ?

Grazie!!

 

[Silvia B]

Hehe....THAT'S my doubt!

WR says:
had rather - aver fatto meglio a fare qualcosa
have rather - far meglio a

why would my phrase be completely wrong?

Couldn't I say both:
I have rather not listen to ..
and
I had rather not listen to ..

 

[shamblesuk]

'Have rather' would be used, eg, 'I have rather a busy day today', so rather = abbastanza in this case.

Or you can say 'I would have rather' which is more like 'far meglio a'.

'I have rather not listen to' non fa senso.

Hehe....THAT'S my doubt!

WR says:
had rather - aver fatto meglio a fare qualcosa
have rather - far meglio a

why would my phrase be completely wrong?

Couldn't I say both:
I have rather not listen to ..
and
I had rather not listen to ..

 

[Silvia B]

'Have rather' would be used, eg, 'I have rather a busy day today', so rather = abbastanza in this case.

Or you can say 'I would have rather' which is more like 'far meglio a'.

'I have rather not listen to' non fa senso.

Well...so the explanation in the dictionary is wrong...

 

[Cathy-Anne]

Hi Silvia,
The construction I think you want is would+rather, to express the same meaning as "I would prefer". So your original sentence should be:

I'd rather not to listen to those stupid comments.

Here "I'd" is the contraction of "I would".
Rather can be used in different ways: "Rather than", for example, has the same meaning as "instead of":

I think I'll wear my old dress rather than spend a lot of money on something new.

HTH!
C

 

[Alfry]

'I have rather not listen to' non ha senso.

piccola correzione,
'fare senso' means 'to be disgusting'

 

[Cathy-Anne]

Another small point:
"I would have rather" has a different meaning, which is past conditional:
I would have rather gone to the cinema last night instead of the pub.

C

 

[Silvia B]

Hi Silvia,
The construction I think you want is would+rather, to express the same meaning as "I would prefer". So your original sentence should be:

I'd rather not to listen to those stupid comments.

Here "I'd" is the contraction of "I would".
Rather can be used in different ways: "Rather than", for example, has the same meaning as "instead of":

I think I'll wear my old dress rather than spend a lot of money on something new.

HTH!
C

Well, mine was just an example. The fact is that I checked the meaning on WR dictionary, and , actually, they write:
had rather - aver fatto meglio a fare qualcosa
have rather - far meglio a

That's why I created those sentences.
I think they should write
"would have rather"
"would had rather"

but I am still confused...because the translation would been for both "avrei fatto meglio"

mmmm......

 

[Cathy-Anne]

"I have rather" sounds completely incorrect to my ears, what does everyone else think?


but I am still confused...because the translation would have been for both "avrei fatto meglio"
One small correction, Silvia...

HTH!
C

 

[Silvia B]

"I have rather" sounds completely incorrect to my ears, what does everyone else think?


but I am still confused...because the translation would have been for both "avrei fatto meglio"
One small correction, Silvia...

HTH!
C

Yes, sorry

 

[lsp]

"I have rather" sounds completely incorrect to my ears, what does everyone else think?

Agreed. I can't think of an example of "I have rather," except with an entirely different meaning ("I have rather a bad cold.")

 

[panjandrum]

I share the confusion.
I looked in the dictionary, and I am still confused. the "have rather" and "had rather" entries are too brief for me to know what they mean in English and of course my understanding of Italian is very limited.

It might help if I give some examples of "rather".

I would rather not listen to those stupid comments.
(I would prefer not to listen to...)

I would rather you went away and spoke to someone else.
(I would prefer you to go away.....)

I would rather have apples than plums.
(I like apples more than plums)

I have a rather sore nose.
(My nose is a little bit sore)

I have rather a silly sense of humour.
I have a rather silly sense of humour.
(My sense of humour is a bit silly )

I had a rather good dinner last night
(It was really excellent!)

I have "rather"s coming in circles through my brain now, so rather than continue this post I will go to get some lunch
(... instead of continuing this post...)

I'm rather hoping that this post will be helpful.
(I'm hoping that this post will be helpful, but I can't be sure.)

 

[shamblesuk]

Grazie come sempre.

piccola correzione,
'fare senso' means 'to be disgusting'

 

[Silvia B]

I share the confusion.
I looked in the dictionary, and I am still confused. the "have rather" and "had rather" entries are too brief for me to know what they mean in English and of course my understanding of Italian is very limited.

It might help if I give some examples of "rather".

I would rather not listen to those stupid comments.
(I would prefer not to listen to...)

I would rather you went away and spoke to someone else.
(I would prefer you to go away.....)

I would rather have apples than plums.
(I like apples more than plums)

I have a rather sore nose.
(My nose is a little bit sore)

I have rather a silly sense of humour.
I have a rather silly sense of humour.
(My sense of humour is a bit silly )

I had a rather good dinner last night
(It was really excellent!)

I have "rather"s coming in circles through my brain now, so rather than continue this post I will go to get some lunch
(... instead of continuing this post...)

I'm rather hoping that this post will be helpful.
(I'm hoping that this post will be helpful, but I can't be sure.)

Thanks thanks thanks Panjandrum!
You are really helpful !!

 

[Silvia]

I'd rather not to listen to those stupid comments.

E' un errore?

 

[moodywop]

Well...so the explanation in the dictionary is wrong...

Yes, Silvia, I'm afraid it is wrong indeed. It says:

Compound Forms
had rather aver fatto meglio a fare qcs.
have rather far meglio a

It's totally misleading. Panjandrum has already provided a comprehensive list of examples showing how rather is used. Since he said he couldn't understand the Italian entries I'll translate them in order to show that they have nothing to do with rather. They belong in the entry for better > had better(do sthg):

Faresti meglio a dirglielo = You'd better tell him

Avresti fatto meglio a dirglielo subito = You should have told him straight away or you would have been better off telling him ..