Based on the instruction in this website, I can come up with some following sentences:
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I would prefer to drink tea rather than to drink coffee.
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I'd prefer to drink tea rather than drink coffee.
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I'd prefer to drink tea rather than coffee.
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I'd prefer to drink tea to coffee.
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I'd prefer tea to coffee.
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I'd prefer tea rather than coffee.
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I'd prefer tea.
I think (4) is wrong, (1), (2) & (7) are definitely right. But not sure (3), (5) & (6).
So, which one is correct?
Best Answer
All of the sentences are grammatically correct and all except sentence 4 sound natural.
Sentences 1 to 3 are made up of two clauses separated by rather than: they vary only in the amount of ellipsis- the elimination of duplicated words in the second clause. Sentence 6 is similar, but without the to drink.
Sentence 5 uses to for the comparison, which is fine when comparing two similar things (tea and coffee), but fails when you use a to-infinitive in the first clause, as in sentence 4. The two different usages of to make the sentence sound unnatural. Replacing it with a gerund eliminates the problem:
Sentence 7 is OK and natural but has a reduced meaning: it doesn't say what you don't prefer.