Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: rather than rather than instead of or instead of instead of rather than

What's the difference in usage between "rather than" and "instead of"?
"it derives from A rather than from B" is correct, but "it derives from 
A instead of from B" isn't, is it?
Kiuhnm

 wrote in message 
news:4822d788$0$35962$4faf...@reader2.news.tin.it...
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 A instead of from B" isn't, is it?
A orecchio più o meno quella che c'è in italiano tra "piuttosto che" e 
"invece che/di".
-- 
Don't f*ck with me bitch, I'm the mightiest sorcerer of the lands.

Kiuhnm ha scritto:

Ci ho messo 10 minuti per capire l'oggetto..ce la potevi mettere un 
pizzico di punteggiatura..eh :-)

 What's the difference in usage between "rather than" and "instead of"?
Ci possono essere diverse sfumature di significato,  
"instead of" suggerisce solo un'alternativa, una cosa al posto dell'altra; 
"rather than" indica anche una preferenza o scelta contraria o
precisazione, una cosa piuttosto che l'altra...
In alcuni casi le due locuzioni sono sostituibili l'una con l'altra, in
altri no.
 
Quanto all'uso, l'"of" di "instead of" è preposizione, quindi può essere
seguito SOLO da un Noun oppure da un Gerund, NON dall'Infinitive o altre
forme verbali.
In "rather than", invece, "than" può essere congiunzione oppure
preposizione, quindi la casisistica delle forme verbali che possono seguire
il "than"  è più ampia.
Nota: questa duplice funzione è sancita anche dai dizionari, ma secondo il
link di Richard alcune persone obiettano all'uso di "rather than" come
preposizione.
Alcuni esempi dai dizionari 
-Instead of
"You can go instead of me, if you want."
"You can use milk instead of cream in this recipe."
"...chose tea instead of coffee."
"...ordered chicken instead of fish."
"He walked to school instead of taking the car."
 
-Rather than 
"...rather than continue the argument, he walked away"
"I think I'd like to stay at home this evening rather than go out."
"...chose to sing rather than play violin" 
"...obscures rather than resolves the problem"
"...why do one thing rather than another?" 
"...happy rather than sad"
 
"Gibson guitars -with their carved tops and necks that are fitted and glued
to the body, rather than bolted on- are expensive to make"
"He's my sister's friend really, rather than mine."
"...diseases in which the immune system plays the villain rather than the
protector"
"I've got to have two teeth out next week." "Rather you than me."
"...rather than being pleased, she was angry." 

 
http://www.englishrules.com/writing/2005/rather-than-and-instead-of.php
Something is definitely wrong.
Your link says:
"But some people object to this use, insisting that than should be used 
only as a *conjunction*. They therefore object to constructions in which 
rather than is followed by a *gerund*, as in Rather than buying a new 
car, I kept my old one."
But the Collins Dictionary says:
"Rather is also a conjunction.
She made students think for themselves, rather than telling them what to 
think."
Kiuhnm

 Ci ho messo 10 minuti per capire l'oggetto..
That was the idea :-)
Kiuhnm

 "He walked to school instead of taking the car."
Ok, but my question was more specific: can I say "He walked to school 
instead of to the library"?
Kiuhnm

 instead of to the library"?
"...going..."?


I think so. On the contrary, "He walked to school rather than to the 
library" should be already correct.
Kiuhnm

 wrote in message 
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 conjunction.
The incoherence is that, according to your link, in "rather then + 
gerund" "rather than" is used as a preposition, whereas, according to 
the Collins Dictionary, it is used as a conjunction. I think the Collins 
Dictionary is wrong.
Kiuhnm

 wrote in message 
news:48246095$0$35961$4faf...@reader2.news.tin.it...
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 library."
Sbaglio o quel "the" è una differenza tra inglese US e UK?

 think.
Pare anche a me che il Collins non sia precisissimo in questo caso.
Se in quella frase sostituisci "rather than" con "instead of", la frase
funziona lo stesso. Potrei sbagliarmi, ma per me quel "rather than" funge
da preposizione, non da congiunzione.

 
A proposito: le due frasi di esempio dei "faulty parallels" sono proprio
del tutto sbagliate o sono comunque usate in un uso informale?
 " The overriding concern in all of this should be to avoid faulty
parallels, as in sentences like Rather than buy a new car, I have kept my
old one and Rather than take a cab, she is going on foot."

 changed his mind and  he walked to the school (instead). Is that correct?
Yes, thank you.
Kiuhnm

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I think that the article tells us that we're referring of the building.
Kiuhnm

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referring TO (it was "talking of").
Kiuhnm

 Kiuhnm
Ah, beh, in quel caso l'articolo sarebbe d'obbligo, come anche in italiano.
Ma se invece va "a scuola"?

 I think that the article tells us that we're referring of the building.
Ma se vai "a scuola", come lo studente che si reca alla propria scuola, è
"to school".
Boy Shot as He Walked To School in Manhattan - New York Times
But as he walked to school yesterday with his 20-year-old stepbrother, the
city's lingering problem of drug-related street violence found John Paul
anyway. ...
query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE6DB1F39F937A15752C0A960958260
In 2007, millions of walkers from around the world walked to school
together for various reasons – all hoping to create communities that are
safe places to ...
www.iwalktoschool.org/
 

 Sbaglio o quel "the" è una differenza tra inglese US e UK?
Anzi no, scusate, ricordavo di aver letto qualcosa del genere, ma forse si
riferiva a "hospital".
Ad esempio, su un sito goverbativo britannico, leggo:
"Include the following information in your entry: the date, time and place
of the incident; ... what happened to the casualty immediately afterwards
(eg went back to work, went home, went to hospital)".
In inglese americano sarebbe "went to the hospital"?

 
www.iwalktoschool.org/
 
Kiuhnm

 In inglese americano sarebbe "went to the hospital"?
Dunno. I just wanted to write the pun above :-)
Kiuhnm

 wrote in message 
news:4828a648$0$29589$4faf...@reader1.news.tin.it...
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 work harder. The mental exercise helps.
I'm just curious: is there a newsgroup about Italian for English native 
speakers?
Kiuhnm

 speakers?
This one, if you will! ;D
Well, sometimes.