Expressing Personal Preferences & Compromising
How to talk about what you like, what you’d rather do, and how to reach an agreement.
⏰ When do we use?
We use these phrases to share our passions, decline things politely using idioms like “not my cup of tea,” or choose between specific options. These structures are essential for social interactions where you need to negotiate plans or explain your tastes to others.
📌 Structure
We use various patterns depending on the level of intensity and the choice being made:
- Likes/Dislikes:
Subject + be + (really into / a big fan of) + noun/-ing. - Preferences:
Subject + would rather + infinitive (no "to")ORSubject + would prefer + to + infinitive. - Compromising:
How about if we + [idea A], then we can + [idea B]?
| Category | Phrase / Structure |
|---|---|
| Expressing likes and dislikes | I’m really into/I’m passionate about + noun/-ing form |
| I’m (not) keen on/I’m (not) a big fan of + noun/-ing form | |
| I love/hate/can’t stand + noun/-ing form | |
| It’s not my cup of tea | |
| What I like/love about … is … | |
| The thing I love about … is … | |
| Discussing options | I’d rather (not) + infinitive without to … |
| I’d (much) rather + infinitive without to … | |
| I’d prefer (not) + infinitive with to … | |
| Given the choice, I’d … | |
| Compromising | I’d be happy to … , but I don’t want to … |
| How about if we … (do your idea), then we can … (do my idea)? |
📝 Notes
Be careful with the grammar following “rather” and “prefer”; “rather” never takes “to” (e.g., I’d rather go), while “prefer” usually does (e.g., I’d prefer to go). To be polite when you dislike something, use “It’s not really my cup of tea” instead of saying “I hate it.”
| Phrase Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Preference (A) | would rather + verb (base) | I’d rather eat pizza. |
| Preference (B) | would prefer + to + verb | I’d prefer to eat pizza. |
| Dislike (Polite) | not my cup of tea | Jazz isn’t really my cup of tea. |
💬 Examples
- I’m passionate about learning new languages because it opens up the world.
- I’d rather stay home tonight than go to the loud concert.
- Given the choice, I’d move to a cottage by the sea for my retirement.
Exercise 1
⬇️ Interactive exercise will appear here soon.