How to Use would rather in a Sentence
would rather
phrase-
If there is any question at all, HR would rather hear about it than not hear about it.
—
Seth Turner,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
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Skunks would rather put up with the strong scent of mothballs than leave a hospitable environment, making mothballs totally ineffective against skunks.
—
Michelle Mastro,
The Spruce,
1 July 2026
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Peptides are an almost entirely cash-pay drug economy, and Visa, Mastercard and Stripe would rather not service it.
—
Boaz Sobrado,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2026
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The brothers bonded over the game, but in his work, Grant so frequently provided a microphone for the voices a powerful organization would rather hush.
—
Sam McDowell 1,
Kansas City Star,
1 July 2026
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Even so, a portion of the Catalan football fanbase would rather follow others at the tournament — with Argentina, because of Lionel Messi’s links with Barca, a popular choice.
—
Laia Cervelló Herrero,
New York Times,
2 July 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'would rather.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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