«would rather»/»sooner» y «prefer»/»would prefer»

[A] Tom would rather read than talk. ; Tom prefers reading to talking. ; He prefers wine to beer = He would rather drink wine than beer. ; I prefer tennis to golf = I’d rather play tennis than golf. ; I’d rather fly than go by sea/I’d prefer to fly. ; Would you like some gin? – I’d prefer a coffee, o bien: I’d rather have a coffee than gin. We went by sea but I’d rather have gone by air/I’d prefer to have gone by air. (I wanted to go by air, but didn’t get my wish.) [B] Shall I give you a cheque? I’d rather you paid cash. ; Would you like to paint it? – No, I’d rather he didn’t (paint it). ; Ann wants to tell Tom, but I’d rather she didn’t (tell him). ; I’d prefer you to pay cash. ; I’d prefer him not to paint it. ; I’d prefer her not to tell Tom.

[[A] No hay diferencia entre would rather y would sooner, pero would rather se escucha con más frecuencia. would rather/sooner van seguidos por el infinitivo sin «to» cuando el sujeto de would rather/sooner coincide con el sujeto de la acción siguiente; would rather se construye + infinitivo + than + infinitivo, pero prefer se construye + gerundio + to + gerundio. prefer puede también ir seguido por un nombre, pero would rather siempre requiere un verbo. Algunos enunciados con prefer + nombre no tienen exacto equivalente would rather: «He prefers dogs to cats» y «He would rather have dogs than cats» no son exactamente lo mismo. would rather + infinitivo no puede expresar preferencias en el pasado, así que el equivalente pasado de «Tom would rather read than walk» sería «Tom preferred reading to talking»/»liked reading better than talking». would rather + infinitivo puede también usarse en lugar de would prefer + infinitivo, pero hay que notar que con would prefer, solo se menciona la acción preferida; si queremos mencionar las dos acciones, tenemos que usar would rather, (lo mismo pasa con los nombres). Tanto would rather/sooner como would prefer pueden ir seguidos del infinitivo de perfecto; esto es un poco parecido a would like + infinitivo de perfecto, que expresa un deseo no realizado. [B] Sujeto  + would rather/sooner va  seguido de sujeto + tiempo pasado (subjuntivo) cuando los dos sujetos son distintos. Se usa would rather + sujeto + didn’t para expresar una preferencia negativa. prefer, como like, puede llevar objeto + infinitivo.]