副词 instead 与 rather1 可用来表达相似的意思,但两者通常不可互换。以下,我将简要解释 instead 的原始意思以及 rather 与其相似的意思,并以例句说明其一般用法。
instead:取代、代替;作为替代品。
- The doctor told the patient to move his left hand, but he moved his right hand instead.
- Instead of oscillating, this function diverges monotonically.
- To reduce cost, we used brass instead of platinum.
rather:更适当地、更正确地、更准确地;作为更好或更适当的替代方案。
- This result does not contradict the previous results. Rather, it demonstrates that there are situations to which the existing theories simply do not apply.
- Rather than give up now, we should redouble our efforts.
- This is not an established result. Rather, it is a tentative conclusion that is apparently inconsistent with at least one experimental result.
1 Rather 还有其它意义,与此处讨论的完全不同。