1、当两部分共用一个主语且谓语动词含有助动词时，助动词不必重复。
He should be rewarded rather than punished.他不该受罚，而应该受奖。
He called rather than said to me “thank you”.他不是对我说一声“谢谢”，而是大嚷小叫的。
He was bolting his food rather than eating it.他不是在吃，而是在狼吞虎咽。
2、若rather than之前的谓语动词是个简单的动词时态，那么其后的也必须使用简单时态。
He made a mistake rather than acted dishonestly.他不是欺骗，而是犯了个错误。
3、若rather than出现在句首，上面两种结构一般不存在，而通常是使用动名词。
Rather than being punished, he should be rewarded.
4、若rather than引导的动词部分陈述一种理由，或没有发生的事情，则rather than后跟不带to的不定式。这时常把rather than译为“而不愿”。
He sold the vegetables at half price rather than allow them to go bad.他宁可半价把蔬菜卖出去，也不愿让它们烂掉。
在这种情况下，rather than也可放于句首，使用同样的结构。
Rather than allow the vegetables to go bad, he sold them at half price.
