Rather than

[Sultano]

Here is a sentence:
"Environmentalists had urged that oil be transported to the USA by land-based piplines rather than by oil tanker.or by undersae pipeline to reduce the potential damage to the environmentposed by thethreat of an oil spill."

the question iswhat does "Rather than"mean......?
could you gie nme more examples
thank you

[Alan]

hi,

This means 'in preference to' - I would like to travel by boat in preference to travelling by plane.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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[Sultano]

but what does it mean when we say:
it's rather good.
it's quite good.
what is the difference? does rather refers to the negation.

[Alan]

In your examples 'rather' has the suggestion of to a 'large extent' and 'quite' 'to a small extent'.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
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[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Alan

I discovered that rather might mean quite; to a slight degree
It's rather cold today, isn't it?
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=65551&dict=CALD

and at the same time it might mean very; to a large degree
I've got rather a lot of work to do at the moment
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=65552&dict=CALD

Do you think it is a relevant piece of information and do you agree that "rather" has some ambiguity in its meaning?

[Alan]

Hi,

To me 'rather cold' means it's too cold or excessively so.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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[Yankee]

.
In AmE the word 'quite' means 'very' (i.e. to a large degree):

It's quite cold. = It's very cold.
.
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[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Amy

But we were talking about rather, not quite :) What is your take on rather ?

[Yankee]

[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Amy

Thank you. :)

[Yankee]

Hi again, LS

I'd like to add that my American ear has had years of experience with British English. I'm familiar with the British usage(s) of 'quite', but the usage in AmE is different.

I agree that the word 'rather' is somewhat more ambiguous. To me, if you say "It's rather cold", the word 'rather' acts to intensify the idea that there is a noticeable degree of coldness. However, I guess if you asked someone to decide which is colder -- "rather cold" or "quite cold" -- an American would probably pick "quite cold" as being colder than "rather cold". :lol: I also think that intonation would have some impact here, too.
.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln