Translation of rather – English–Portuguese dictionary

rather

adverb

/ˈrɑː.ðər/ us

/ˈræð.ɚ/

SMALL AMOUNT

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quite; to a slight degree

um tanto

It's rather cold today, isn't it?

That's rather a difficult book - here's an easier one for you.

The train was rather too crowded for a comfortable journey.

She answered the phone rather sleepily.

I rather doubt I'll be able to come to your party. Duvido muito que eu possa ir à sua festa.

More examplesFewer examples

It is a rather grey, colourless city, with few interesting sights or historical monuments.
His books tend to be rather densely written.
The company's prospects for the future are rather dim.
She found the formality of the occasion rather daunting.
To people who don't know him he probably appears (to be) rather unfriendly.

MORE EXACTLY

more accurately; more exactly

ou melhor

She'll fly to California on Thursday, or rather, she will if she has to.

He's my sister's friend really, rather than mine. Na verdade, ele é amigo da minha irmã, e não meu.

More examplesFewer examples

I'll be home before 6, or rather, I will unless I get asked to stay late again.
She's not shy. Rather the opposite.
She was in a good mood, or rather she was until she heard the bad news.
They go on holiday to France every year, or rather, they have done for the last ten years.
He's selling his flat, or rather, he will sell it if he can find a buyer.

PREFERENCE

rather than

instead of; used especially when you prefer one thing to another

ao invés de

I think I'd like to stay at home this evening rather than go out. Acho que gostaria de ficar em casa esta noite ao invés de sair.

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You can use cocoa powder to make the cake rather than chocolate - it's a bit of a cheat, but nobody notices the difference.
Helicopters are mainly used for military rather than civil use.
The matter would be better dealt with in the civil court rather than by an expensive criminal proceeding.
Most convalescents prefer to be cared for at home rather than in a hospital.
I prefer photographing people rather than places.

would rather

(also 'd rather)

used to show that you prefer to have or do one thing more than another

preferir

I'd rather have a beer. Eu preferiria uma cerveja.

Which would you rather do - go swimming or play tennis?

Wouldn't you rather finish it tomorrow?

He'd rather die than (= he certainly does not want to) let me think he needed help.

More examplesFewer examples

I'd rather not have any mushrooms, thanks.
I'd rather get a taxi than wait for the bus.
Would you rather eat now or later?
I'd rather watch a film with subtitles than one dubbed into English.

Grammar

Rather

We use rather as a degree adverb (rather cold, rather nice). We also use it to express alternatives and preferences (green rather than blue, coffee rather than tea, slowly rather than quickly). …

Rather as a degree adverb

We use rather to give emphasis to an adjective or adverb. It has a similar meaning to quite when quite is used with gradable words. It is more formal than quite. We often use it to express something unexpected or surprising: …

Ratherthan: alternatives and preferences

We use rather than to give more importance to one thing when two alternatives or preferences are being compared: …

Or rather

We use or rather to correct ourselves: …

(Translation of rather from the Cambridge English-Portuguese Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translation of rather | GLOBAL English–Portuguese Dictionary

rather

adverb

/ˈræðər, ˈrɑðər/

to a fairly large degree

um pouco

a rather boring speech um discurso um pouco chato

used to correct what you have just said

mais exatamente

or rather

mais exatamente

We were invited to a party, or rather two parties. Fomos convidados para uma festa, mais exatamente, duas festas.

rather than

instead of

em vez de

We could go inside, rather than sitting out here in the wind. Podíamos ir para dentro em vez de ficar sentados aqui ao vento.

Rather than wait any longer, we decided to leave. Em vez de esperar mais, decidimos ir embora.

would rather

indicates what sb prefers

preferir ser melhor

I’d rather see a comedy than a drama tonight. Hoje eu prefiro ver uma comédia do que um drama.

“Would you like to try it?” “Thanks, I’d rather not.” “Gostaria de experimentar.” “Obrigado, mas é melhor não.”

Examples of rather

rather

How do you know that said popinjays aren't sitting on the background rather than the stripe (the ordinary)?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ground-penetrating radar is also treated rather briefly, with no description of field techniques.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is, rather, a matter of what it is that parties can choose and what they can influence.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Clearly, the public health official is not replacing the physician; rather, ethicists now realize a need to be in dialogue with both.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Therefore, growth rates may increase over time simply because the initial and descendant cells are recovering from treatment rather than evolving.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The semantics of the language is based on a translation, and it exploits abstract data types rather than polymorphic types and recursion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We can differentiate these categories as purely lexical, rather than syntactic.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Actual choices are relevant not to the idea of the right but rather to its direction of exercise with respect to the protected domain.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

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