Skip to content

N3

むしろ

Rather, Instead, Over

何なんでそっちが怒おこってるの?むしろこっちが怒おこりたいよ。

Why are you the one who's angry? If anything, I'm the one who should be angry.

Explanation

「むしろ」 is an adverb meaning 'rather' or 'if anything'. When two things are compared, the speaker feels the latter fits better, is preferable or is closer to the truth. Common patterns: 「Aというより、むしろBだ」 (not so much A as B); 「Aよりも、むしろBのほうが…」 (rather than A, B is more...). It often corrects the usual view.

Mixed up with

「むしろ」 is the speaker's own view that B fits better. 「かえって」 is an objective backfire: you hoped for a good result and got a worse one.

It often appears with 「~というより」 or 「~よりは」. After 「むしろ」 comes what the speaker really accepts.

Examples

  1. むしろ、安やすい方ほうを買かった方ほうがいいとおもう。

    Buying a cheaper one would be better instead.

  2. 車くるまをリースするより、むしろ中古ちゅうこの車くるまを買かった方ほうが安やすく済すむ。

    Instead of leasing a car, it would be cheaper if you bought a used one.

  3. 彼かれよりもむしろあなたに来きてほしい。

    I'd rather you come than him.

Tested 2 times in past papers

N2 · Dec 2022, Q32N2 · Jul 2011, Q38