Usage of 'rather' and 'instead of'

Question

This is a bit confusing. Let me give an example to make it clear.

# He saw it as a blessing rather than as a curse.
# It appeared to her as an image instead of as a thought.
# It was about X rather than/instead of about Y.
# It was in your mind rather than/instead of in your body.

From the bolded text, you can see there's repetition of as, about, in. Is that necessary? Are there other ways to write it with rather/instead of?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

This is a bit confusing. Let me give an example to make it clear.

# He saw it as a blessing rather than as a curse.

# It appeared to her as an image instead of as a thought.

# It was about X rather than/instead of ~~about~~ Y.

# It was in your mind rather than/instead of in your body.

From the bolded text, you can see there's repetition of as, about, in. Is that necessary? The repeated words are often omitted, as shown.

Are there other ways to write it with rather/instead of?

# Rather than as a curse,he saw it as a blessing.

# He saw it as a blessing and not (as) a curse.

# He saw it not as a curse but as a blessing.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I understand it's okay to omit them. But is also okay to repeat them in some cases?

Clive · Answer

Hi,,

Yes.

The repeated words are often omitted.

'Often' indicates that sometimes they are not omitted.

Clive

Usage of 'rather' and 'instead of'

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