rather than

English

Conjunction

rather than

1. And not.
2. Used to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred.

   I'd like to go home early rather than risk(ing) the roads later.

   I prefer making my kids' toys myself rather than buying them.

   It was my wife, rather than I, who decided to leave.

   It is never better to let kids have their way whenever they wish rather than standing up for one's parental authority.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

Translations

and not

Spanish: y no Vietnamese: chứ không phải

to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred

Arabic: بَدَلًا مِن (badalan min) Egyptian Arabic: بدل ما (badal ma), أحسن ما (ʔaḥsan ma) Bulgarian: вместо (bg) (vmesto) Chinese: Mandarin: 毋寧 / 毋宁 (zh) (wúnìng) Czech: raději než French: plutôt que (fr) German: statt (de) Italian: anziché (it) Latin: potius quam Norwegian: heller (no) Polish: a nie Scottish Gaelic: seach Slovak: radšej než Spanish: antes que, en vez de, en lugar de (es) Vietnamese: hơn là, thay vì (vi)

Preposition

rather than

1. instead of; in preference to.

   I'd prefer a dog rather than a cat.

Translations

instead of, in preference to

Arabic: أَكْثَر مِن (ʔakṯar min), عَنّ (ar) (ʕann) Egyptian Arabic: أكتر من (ʔaktar men), عن (ʕann) Bulgarian: вместо (bg) (vmesto) Chinese: Mandarin: 與其 / 与其 (zh) (yǔqí) Czech: raději než, namísto (cs) Dutch: in plaats van (nl) French: au lieu de (fr), à la place de (fr), plus que (fr) German: statt (de) Irish: seachas Italian: anziché (it) Malagasy: noho (mg) Norwegian: heller enn Polish: a nie, zamiast (pl) Portuguese: a (pt) Scottish Gaelic: seach Spanish: en vez de, en lugar de (es) Tagalog: imbes Ukrainian: за́мість то́го (zámistʹ tóho) Vietnamese: hơn là, thay vì (vi) Yoruba: kàkà