Instead of versus Rather than

by PH Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:50 pm

Are these 2 phrases interchangeable...or is one used in certain situations...

what's the rule?

Thank you in advance...

by **StaceyKoprince** Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:07 am

They mean the same thing but they are not completely interchangeable.

Instead of ends in a preposition (of) and therefore must introduce a prepositional phrase. (And the other part of the comparison, before instead of, must therefore also be a prepositional phrase b/c we need the two parts to be parallel.)

A noun should follow that preposition, so if you are going to use "instead of" you will need to be comparing (contrasting, technically) nouns.

Rather than, on the other hand, is more flexible. It can be followed by a noun, but it could also be followed by a verb. Again, parallelism is required for whatever two things you're discussing.

Generally speaking, on the GMAT, if you're not sure, guess an option that uses "rather than." This is simply because "instead of" has a limitation that "rather than" does not - so, if you have to guess, go with the option that has more ways to be right!