人们面对两种选择时，常常是肯定一种，而否定另一种。换句话来说，也就是“取”和“舍”。“取”和“舍”的表达方式多种多样，各有特点，现将它们的常见的表达方式归纳如下：
1. more A than B意为“与其说 B不如说 A”。例如：
He is more a scholar than a teacher.
与其说他是教师，不如说他是学者。
It is even more a picture than a poem.
与其说那是一首诗，不如说那是一幅画。
2. less A than B意为“与其说 A不如说 B”。例如：
She regards me less as her teacher than as her friend.
她把我看作朋友，没有把我看成老师。
Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal.
经验表明，成功的取得与其说是由于才能，不如说是由于热心。
3. better A than B意为“与其说 B不如说 A”。其实，这是“ It is better to do something than+从句或其他”的省略。例如：
Better to do well than to say well.
说得好不如做得好。
Better die standing than live kneeling.
宁可站着死，不可跪着生。
4. rather A than B意为“与其说 B不如说 A”。
rather than表示取舍时，其后不定式的 to可有可无，也可以是动词的 - ing形式。将 rather than分开写与连在一起写，对意义影响不大。例如：
He is rather diligent than clever.
与其说他是聪明，不如说他是勤奋。
We should check up rather than accept what he says.
与其听他说，不如我们自己去核实一下。
5. not so much A as B意为“与其说 A不如说 B”。例如：
I did that not so much for myself as for my son.
我做这件事与其说是为自己，不如说是为我儿子。
A man&# 39; s worth lies not so much in what he has as in what he is.
一个人的价值不在于他有什么，而在于他是个什么样的人。
6. may/ might as well A as B意为“与其说 B不如说 A”。例如：
You may as well throw your money away as spend it in gambling.
你与其把钱花在赌博上，倒不如把它白白扔掉。
We may as well take a taxi home( as walk home).
我们还是坐一辆出租车回家的好。
7. not A but B意为“不是 A而是 B”。例如：
He is not a musician but a playwright and poet.
他不是音乐家，而是剧作家和诗人。
My brother majors not in maths, and but in English.
我弟弟不是学数学专业的，而是学英语专业的。
8. Not that A but that B意为“不是因为 A而是因为 B”。
Not that A but that B其实是“ It is not that…, but that…”句型的省略，属强调句，这样用只是进一步作正反对比。例如：
Not that I dislike the job, but that I have no time to do it now.
不是因为我不喜欢那工作，而是因为我无暇顾及。
Not that I don&# 39; t want to help you, but that it&# 39; s beyond my power to do so.
并不是我不想帮忙，而是我能力有限。
9. would rather A than B意为“宁愿做 A不愿做 B”。例如：
I would rather stay at home than go to the seaside for the holidays.
我宁愿呆在家里也不愿去海边度假。
I would rather I suffered a great loss in money than you should cheat others.
我宁愿自己蒙受重大的经济损失，也不愿你再去骗其他的人。
10. prefer A to B意为“宁愿要 A不愿要 B”。
A、 B为对等的动词不定式时，若将 to换为 rather than，则其后的动词不定式省略 to。例如：
I prefer tea to coffee, as a Chinese.
作为中国人，我更喜欢喝茶。
The visiting professor preferred giving lectures to being invited to meetings at times.
来访的教授宁愿给学生作报告也不愿不时地被邀请去开会。
The bus is crowded, so I prefer to go home on foot rather than take a bus.
车上很挤，所以我宁愿步行也不愿乘车。
