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Lcchang Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

rather than

Rather than fixed the broken part, the repairman changed the whole paper feeder of the printer.

The given answer says "fixed" is wrong, but didn't indicate what to change to. I think it is either "fix" or "fixing".
Is "rather than" a prepositional phrase or conjunction?
If it is a conjunction, why "fixed" can 't be used?

Please advise.

LCChang
  

Top answer

" , I think you need a bare infinitive after "rather than". But I'm not completely sure, as always.

— Kooyeen

  • " , I think you need a bare infinitive after "rather than".
  • But I'm not completely sure, as always.
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6 Answers
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Hi,
I would say "Rather than fix...", I think you need a bare infinitive after "rather than".
But I'm not completely sure, as always.
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I would say fixing. I'm not completely sure too. Emotion: stick out tongue
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I think the verb should be in infinitive aswell, I don't know, I was taught that "rather" always goes with infinitive.Emotion: smile
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In the “rather than” context, we can use either one. Semantically, gerund usually goes better with "rather than". "Rather than just touching up, I ended up painting the entire room.

Rather than just to touch up, I ended up painting the entire room

Both are fine, But the first is more commonly used.
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GoodmanIn the “rather than” context, we can use either one. Semantically, gerund usually goes better with "rather than". "Rather than just touching up, I ended up painting the entire room.

Rather than just to touch up, I ended up painting the entire room

Both are fine, But the fi
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Rather than fixing the broken part, ...

See http://www.bartelby.com/64/C002/006.html

According to the bartleby site, when a rather than clause precedes a main clause in the past tense, the gerund is the correct choice. Personally, I would accept Rather than fix the broken
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