Example sentences of "rather be " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ask yourself which politician you would rather be this fortnight , Chris Patten or Nigel Lawson , and the answer is easy : John Smith . |
| 2 | He liked to sit on a bench in the square and talk with , or rather be talked to by , the old retired miners . |
| 3 | Now , I 'd rather be sitting in a car than standing on a crowded platform , but there was n't much in the way of light relief on the radio . |
| 4 | Sue Lawley ‘ Sometimes I 'd rather be ironing … ’ |
| 5 | ‘ Sometimes I 'd rather be ironing ’ |
| 6 | ‘ At first he agreed that he 'd much rather be at home with me . |
| 7 | In a flash of unusual sentimentality , Wexford thought he would rather be dead than be the man about whom a daughter could say such things . |
| 8 | From the gal who swore she 'd rather be dragged across a plain by wild horses than wear lipgloss , this comes as something of a surprise . |
| 9 | I 'd Rather Be Famous , by Pete Johnson ( Methuen , £4.95 ) might seem like candy-floss in comparison but this book is sardonic in its view of romance and the dreams of telly fame that follow an appearance in a Blind Date type of show . |
| 10 | I 'd rather be seen as a big brother than a juicy sex symbol . |
| 11 | I 'd rather be a street sweeper . ’ |
| 12 | He could think of nowhere he would rather be than at home , with people he knew and trusted , in a place without secrets . |
| 13 | But yes , I would rather be at home if I had the choice . |
| 14 | One stockbroking source said last night : ‘ There are a certain number of people who have already said : ‘ Listen , if I 'm going to get clobbered , I would rather be transferred , or maybe I could find someone else who can transfer me . ’ |
| 15 | We would rather be rich than poor , which even our politicians understand because they prefer being rich too . |
| 16 | ‘ I would rather be in my situation than the one that David Pleat , Neil Warnock [ Notts Co ] and Billy Bonds [ West Ham ] find themselves in . |
| 17 | ‘ I do n't know , ’ I said , ‘ I 'd rather be slashed here , than there ! ’ |
| 18 | No , I 'll offer you no advice , for you 'd rather be damned than heed it . ’ |
| 19 | Still I 'd rather be famous than righteous or holy , anyday , anyday , anyday . ’ |
| 20 | It 's merely that if there 's more than 50 of them feeling it simultaneously on the same summit then I 'd rather be somewhere else . |
| 21 | I 'd rather be a paid-up churchgoer with a sense of pride in myself and my family than a part-time schizophrenic who lives her life in a fog of garbled third-hand mysticism and a building that houses goats , chickens and , from the feel of it , fleas like small sharks . |
| 22 | Homelessness is often not thought to be a rural problem but there are some unemployed whose job searches in the city have failed and who would rather be unemployed in the countryside . |
| 23 | ‘ I know , but I 'd rather be left alone down here . |
| 24 | There were no unions or guilds or other associations for they were not needed ; our employers were fair-minded and trustworthy , but the greatest incentive of all was the fact that , as reporters , we enjoyed the smell of printers ' ink as much as the actor is supposed to enjoy the smell of grease-paint — we loved our jobs and would usually much rather be chasing down ‘ a hot story ’ than eating . |
| 25 | Table 1 does not consist of water-tight compartments but should rather be regarded as displaying general categories which may run into each other , more as two sets of continua rather than as two polar ideal types . |
| 26 | The North might well observe too that it would rather be free of national economic policies that have only succeeded , over so many post-war years and through several alternating governments , in bringing the country to a level of GNP per head visibly falling behind all our respectable rivals — and some newcomers till recently beneath notice . |
| 27 | Perhaps he would rather be called by his right name . |
| 28 | True Confessions in 1981 was an attempt at getting my stage nerve back after a disastrous premature version of Blood and Ice , my first try at a real play , went on in the studio of the Belgrade Theatre , Coventry ( ‘ I 'd rather be at the dentist — Birmingham Evening News ’ ) . |
| 29 | ‘ Much rather be alive than dead . ’ |
| 30 | Do n't be persuaded to be safe and sensible when you would rather be dashing and adventurous in your choice . |