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Nazanin saryazdi Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Prefer

Is this sentence right?
I prefer to tell a white lie to hurt his feelings. It doesn't seem alright to me! How can I change it? I want to say that I prefer to say a white lie, but not hurt his feelings and at the same time use the structure : prefer sth to sth eles
  

Top answer

nazanin saryazdi Is this sentence right? No. I prefer to tell a white lie rather than hurt his feelings.

— Mister Micawber

  • nazanin saryazdi Is this sentence right?
  • No.
  • I prefer to tell a white lie rather than hurt his feelings.
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14 Answers
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nazanin saryazdiIs this sentence right?
No.

I prefer to tell a white lie rather than hurt his feelings.
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I prefer to tell a white lie than to hurt his feelings.
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Blue Jayprefer... than
Yipes! Are you sure?
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How about this one: I prefer telling a white lie to hurting his feelings. !? prefer sth to sth else! I haven;t heard prefer than, Is it right?
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I prefer telling a white lie to hurting his feelings?
I prefer to tell a white lie, but never hurt his feelings?
Are these two correct?
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"Prefer to tell a lie..." just doesn't sound natural to me.
I would say: I'd rather tell him a white lie than to hurt him with athe truth".
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nazanin saryazdi I prefer telling a white lie to hurting his feelings.
This one sounds like a good option to me: I prefer X to Y. Or I prefer X over Y.
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Mister MicawberThis one sounds like a good option to me: I prefer X to Y.
In this case, "to " doesn't semantically make sense to my ear. I agree the "prefer the X to Y pattern " is the normal collocation. Am I on the wrong page ?
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"I prefer telling a white lie, I hurt his feelings instead."

or

"I prefer telling a white lie, instead of hurting his feelings."

You can choose either one.
Whichever sounds great to your ears.
Both sound natural to me.

Good luck!

Regards,
Muhammad Shayan Shaikh
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Shayan ShaikhI prefer telling a white lie, I hurt his feelings instead."
This is a comma-splice error, Shayan. You need a period, a semicolon, or a conjunction:

I prefer telling a white lie; I hurt his feelings instead.
I prefer telling a white lie. I hurt his feelings instead.
I prefer telling a white lie, b
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