prefer，主要用作为动词，作及物动词时译为“更喜欢；宁愿；提出；提升”；作不及物动词时译为“喜欢；愿意”。
Not only…but also是英语中比较常见的一个关联词组，用于连接两个表示并列关系的成分，着重强调后者。它的意思是“不仅 … 而且 。.。”；其中的also有时可以省略。由于它的用法比较复杂，本文拟对其用法及其使用中应注意的问题作一归纳。
一、主要用法
1、连接主语：
Not only I but also Tom and Mary are fond of watching television.
不仅我，而且汤姆和玛丽都喜欢看电视。
Not only Jim but also his wife saw her.
不但吉姆而且他妻子也见到了她。
2、连接谓语动词
The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs.
英国人和美国人不但语言相同，而且有很多相同的风俗习惯。
注意not only…but also连接的动词一般不重复，这与汉语不同。如汉语说“我不仅懂英语，而且懂俄语”，英语则说“I know not only English but also Russian”，而不说“I not only know English but also know Russian”。再如：“气体不仅改变形状，而且改变体积”，英译为“A gas changes not only in shape but also in volume.”（注意介词常重复）
3、连接宾语：
The problem for the recipient was trying to guess not only who the sender was, but also what his secret feelings might be.
收信人不仅要尽力猜出是谁的，还要推测寄信人内心有什么想法。
4、连接宾语补足语：
Light and bright colors make people not only happier but more active.
浅色和鲜艳的颜色不但使人看了高兴，也会使人更加活泼。
5、连接表语：
Shakespeare was not only a writer but (also) an actor。
莎士比亚不仅是一位剧作家，而且是一位演员。
6、连接状语：
If your friend reminds you kindly of your faults, take what he says not merely pleasantly but thank fully.
如果低你的朋友善意地指明出你的缺点，你不但要欣然接受，而且要心怀感激之情。
7、连接从句：
He didn’t let us off the hook until we had proved not only that we knew what an organism was but also that we had the fortitude to stand up for the truth.
直到我们证明了我们不仅知道什么是生物体，而且具有坚持真理的不屈不挠精神时，他这才放过我们。
8、连接定语：
Man has become master not only of the sky but also of the space. 人类不但征服了天空，而且征服了太空。
9、连接句子：
I not only heard it, but (also) I saw it.
我不仅听到、而且看到了它。
Not only…but also连接句子时， not only 可以置于句首表示强调，这时第一分句要采用倒装结构。例如：
Not only has he a first-class brain but also he is a tremendously hard worker.
他不仅有着头等聪明的脑子，而且工作很能吃苦。
Not only had the poor man been arrested but he had been sent to prison as well.
这个可怜的人不仅被逮捕，而且被投进监狱。
Not only do the professors have their own ideas on the matter, but the students have theirs too.
对这件事不仅教授们有自己的看法，学生们也有自己的想法。
10、用于 it is…that 强调结构
It is not only the scientist and the physician who need a long special training now, but the computer expert, the accountant, and the business manager.
现在，不仅科学家和医生需要长期的专门训练，计算机专家、会计师和企业经理也需要这种训练。
It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.
我们不但要对我们所做的事负责，而且要对我们没有去做的事负责。
二、not only…but的省略及其变体
1.Not only…but also中的also可以省略。有 例如：
He was not only a successful writer but (also) the greatest poet of his time.
他不仅是一位成功的作家，而且是他那个时代最伟大的诗人。
He is famous not only in China but (also) in the whole world. 他不仅闻名中国，而且闻名全球。
Not only do they suffer less pain than most women in labor, but the town boasts an unusually low rate of infant mortality. 这不仅使她们比大多数产妇受痛苦，而且使城市婴儿死亡率大大降低。
2.not only…but also句型一般只省略also,但在连接句子时，有时也可见到省略but甚至but also的情形。例如：
Not only was I tired, I was also cold.我不光困倦， 还感到很冷。（省去了but）
George not only made an important friend, he also learned about the frontier. （省去了but）
Since moisture is needed for rain, dry air in the morning not only allows the spider to get an early start, is also means a dry day. 有了湿度才会下雨，因此，早晨空气干燥不仅使蜘蛛早点开始结网，而且意味着这一天不会下雨。（省去了but）
Not only bas she been an excellent wife, she has been a better husband than I’ll never be.
她不仅是一个极其出色的妻子，而且是一个我永远也做不到的好丈夫。（省去了but also）
Not only were there no traces of drinking water in the room, there was not sufficient water found in the dead star’s stomach to have comfortably taken the tablets with.
不仅房内没有饮用水的痕迹，在这位已故影星的胃里也没发现有把这些药丸舒适地送下去的水。（省去了but also）
3、 not only…but also的形式比较固定，但也会出现but与also被分隔开来的情形。例如：
Not only the mother but the children are also sick.
不仅母亲，而且孩子们也生病了。
Not only is his right lung affected but his left lung is also.
他不但右肺被感染，而且左肺也被感染了。
4.not only A but also B的替代式常见的还有not only A but B…as well, not only A but B too, not merely A but also B, not just A but also B, not…alone…but 等。例如：
Not only my mother was unhappy, but Mary, too.
不但我妈妈不高兴，玛丽也不高兴。
In jurisprudence it is a well-known principle that justice should not merely be done but should also be seen to be done.
在法理学方面，人所共知的原则是：对受害者不仅应当公正对待，而且应当让人们看到他得到了公正的对待。
Not just the people of our nation, but all the people of the world have profited from his work.
不仅我们国家的人民，而且全世界所有的人民，都从他的研究工作中得到了好处。
Not poets alone, nor artists, nor that superior order of mind which arrogates to itself all refinement, feel this, but dogs and all men.
不仅诗人，艺术家以及那些自命不凡、思想杰出的人觉得如此，连狗和普通人也有同感。
三、注意事项
1、”not only A but also B”结构中的A和B通常是同等成分。由于同一成分常常由同一词类的词来担任，所以A与B常常也是同一词性，这从本文第一部分的例句中即可看到。但是，也有A与B属于不同词性的情形。如：”He is not only very clever, but also a very hard worker, and he likes to do everything well.（他不但聪明，而且能下功夫。他喜欢把每一件事都做得很好。）其中A是形容词，B是名词，但两者均在句中作表语，因此仍是正确句子。然而，在“He not only plays the piano, but also the violin.”一句中，A是动词，B是名词，不是同一成分，因此语法学家认为此句有点欠妥，至少在书面语中就是如此。如改为“He plays not only the piano, but also the violin”就无懈可击了，再看下面二例：
The surprise grant not only enabled Dad to finish A&T, but to graduate first in his class.这笔意外的奖学金不仅使我父亲能读完农业和技术学院，而且毕业成绩名列榜首。
1.Not only spoke English very carefully, but very clearly as well.
2、有人认为，not only…but also不能用于否定句。汉语中用于否定句中的“不但…而且”在英语中要用as well as 表示。如“不但我不想看戏，而且他也不想看戏”可译作“He, as well as I, doesn’t want to see the play.”不过，这条规则也有例外，请看下面二例：
Not only did none of us know how the crime was to be committed, we didn’t even know what the crime was to be!
Not only don’t I know the population of Nepal, I don’t know where in god’s world it is!我不但不知道尼泊尔人口，而且连它究竟在哪里也不知道！ 这两个例句有几个共同点：都是连接否定分句，都是倒装句，都没有用but also。下面一例出自一位美国作家之手，所不同的是，not only…but连接的是并列谓语，第一个动词是否定的，第二个动词则是肯定的：
Nonetheless, as he described Mary’s attitudes her accomplishments, he found himself wishing that she cared more about the police side of his life than she seemed to, that she might understand it as intimately, say, as the woman opposite him. But this motion seemed to him so disloyal to Mary that he not only did not articulate it, but at once tried to suppress it.
prefer sth (to sth)
只表达喜欢某一个事物时，括号里的成分省略；涉及两个事物比较时，加上括号里的成分。下同。
具体如下：
1、 prefer sth
Does he prefer a particular sort of music?
他更喜欢某种特别的音乐吗？
2、 prefer sth to sth else
I prefer tea to coffee.
相比咖啡，我更喜欢茶。
prefer doing (to doing)
具体如下：
1、 prefer doing
I prefer watching TV at lunch.
我喜欢在吃午饭时看电视。
2、 prefer doing sth to doing sth else
I prefer staying at home to strolling outside.
我喜欢在家待着，而不喜欢在外面闲逛。
prefer…to… 比起 …… 更喜欢 …… 用法： prefer…to…常用在prefer doing sth to doing sth 结构中。 例句： I have told you many times I prefer pop music to classic music.我告诉你很多次了，与古典乐相比，我更喜欢流行乐。 结构分析： I是主语，have told是谓语，you是宾语， many times是状语，I prefer pop music to classic music整个是宾语从句，其中，I是主语， prefer是谓语，pop music是宾语， toc lassic music是状语。 354.protect…from… 保护 …… 免于 …… 用法： protect…from…中，from后一般接名词或者是动名词形式。 例句： Wecan protect our children from injury in this way.通过这种方式，我们可以让孩子们免受伤害。 语法点： we是第一人称代词，其作主语时，谓语一般用复数形式。 355.provide…with… 给 …… 提供 …… 用法： 在provide…with…的结构中，provide后面跟人，with后面跟提供的物资、设备等。同义短语还有supply…with…。 例句： Don’t expect the companies will provide you with a clearly-definded career path. （2014年12月四级）不要期望公司会给你提供明确清晰的职业道路。 356.separate…from… 把 …… 和 …… 分开 用法： separate…from…表示把两者分开，可用于被动语态。 例句： From now on, no one can separate the woman from her husband.从今往后，没有人能把这女人和她的丈夫分开。
20200219 作业 动词短语： treat…as… 把 …… 视为 …… 用法： treat…as…相当于regard…as…，这两个短语常用于被动语态。例句： The kind nurse treated the baby as her own child.1.句子成分、时态分析；2.将英文译成中文。
英语外刊，精读练习： Fourteen of the evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan were allowed to board a flight back to the United States after testing positive for coronavirus because they did not have symptoms, the U.S. State Department and Health and Human Services announced in a joint statement.【USA TODAY】
用英语表达“宁愿”，可以用 prefer to 。.。 rather than 。.。，也可以直接用 prefer 。.。 to，但是要注意，前面内个句型中的 to 是个不定式符号，后者中的 to 是个介词。这样，前面的那个句型中，to 后面就要用动词原形，后面的那个 to 后面就得使用名词、代词、动名词。
先看：prefer to…rather than…的例句：
I prefer to live in England rather than go abroad.
我宁愿住在英格兰，不愿出国。或者译为：和出国相比，我宁愿住在英格兰。
再看：prefer…to…的用法：
I prefer coffee to tea.
和茶相比，我更喜欢咖啡。
实际上，prefer 的意思就是 like.。.。.。better，所以prefer 的基本用法和 like 的用法一样，比如你可以说：
I like apples.
I like to eat apples.
I like eating apples.
那么你就可以说：
I prefer apples.
I prefer to eat apples.
I prefer eating apples.
只不过，这个时候 prefer 表示“更喜欢”，含已接近 “宁愿”。
而 rather than 除了上面的用法，我们还可以“是。.。.。.而不是。.。.。.”，比如：
He is a teacher of anatomy rather than a doctor.
他是个解剖学老师，而不是个医生。或者译为：与其说他是个医生，不如说他是个解剖学老师。
prefer的用法和辨析相关文章：
记熟之后，尽管在写作和口语中使用吧！
助记的语法要点：动词、名词、不定式都是名词性成分！
Which do you prefer, tea or coffee?
I became a teacher because I preferred books and people to politics.
我成为了一名教师是因为我更喜欢书籍和人而不是政治。
I prefer to think of peace not war.
我更喜欢思考和平而不是战争。