Preferring One Thing Over Another
To say that you "would rather" do something, use the adverb hellere (rather). It is the comparative form of gerne (gladly).
It is typically paired with the modal verb vil (want). While vil gerne means "would like to," vil hellere means "would rather."
| He would like to watch the horror movie, but I would rather watch the comedy. | Han vil gerne se gyserfilmen, men jeg vil hellere se komedien. |
| When it rains, I would rather stay indoors and watch the series. | Når det regner, vil jeg hellere blive indendørs og se serien. |
| The children would rather play the board game outdoors. | Børnene vil hellere spille brætspillet udendørs. |
Expressing Your Top Choice
When you have three or more options, or want to state what you like to do best, use helst (preferably). This is the superlative form in the sequence gerne – hellere – helst.
Pairing it with vil gives you vil helst ("prefer to" or "want most of all").
| The girl likes the swimming pool, but she prefers to watch the documentary. | Pigen kan lide svømmehallen, men hun vil helst se dokumentaren. |
| We prefer to play the board game, because the comedy is boring. | Vi vil helst spille brætspillet fordi komedien er kedelig. |
Asking and Contrasting
Use hellere to ask someone to choose between two specific options, or mix hellere and helst to contrast what different people want.
| Would you rather watch a horror movie or the series? | Vil du hellere se en gyserfilm eller serien? |
| He would rather watch the movie indoors, but she prefers to be outdoors. | Han vil hellere se filmen indendørs, men hun vil helst være udendørs. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
