Prefer (i) Prefer is normally followed by to, not than: '1 prefer coffee to tea', 'She preferred sewing to knitting', 'We prefer going by car to traveling by train'. The difficulty arises when infinitives are involved. We cannot say 'She preferred to sew to to knit.' In such cases we use rather than, but never than alone. Occasionally (more often in literary than in spoken style. ) rather is brought forward and placed before the first infinitive, and than is left before the second: 'He preferred rather to take the whole blame himself than to allow it to fall on the innocent'. (ii) Even with nouns rather than is permissible in a situation where a choice specifically for that occasion is involved. Thus 'I prefer port to sherry' expresses a general preference. But if the question is 'What shall we have to drink? Port?... Sherry.*', the reply might be, 'I should prefer port rather than sherry'. Perhaps there is a vague feeling that the infinitive to have is understood before each of the alternatives. But 'I should prefer port to sherry' is also correct. (iii) 'Which do you prefer most?' is incorrect. Literally, prefer means 'place before the other(s) '. It is therefore an absolute term, and cannot be modified by more or most. According to the entry, which of the following sentences is/are correct? (1) People here prefer to tide their own bicycles than riding the town buses. (2) People here prefer riding their own bicycles than riding the town buses. (3) People here prefer tidi