Learn French: Je prendrai plutôt le train. - I will take the train rather.

Je prendrai plutôt le train.

I will take the train rather.

Breakdown of Je prendrai plutôt le train.

prendre

to have (a meal/drink) / to take

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Questions & Answers about Je prendrai plutôt le train.

The current lesson focuses on au lieu de (instead of). Why use plutôt in this sentence?

Au lieu de must be followed by a specific noun or an infinitive verb to state exactly what is being replaced (like au lieu du bus - instead of the bus). Plutôt simply means "rather" or "instead" on its own. You use it when the alternative is already obvious from the conversation and you don't need to name it.

Why does plutôt go before le train? In English, we often put "instead" at the end of the sentence.

In French, short adverbs like plutôt generally go immediately after the conjugated verb. Since prendrai is the conjugated verb here, plutôt steps right in between the verb and the direct object (le train).

Could I use the near future and say Je vais prendre le train instead of using prendrai?

Yes! Je prendrai is the futur simple (I will take), which is great for stating decisions. However, you can definitely use the near future (I am going to take). Just remember the adverb rule: plutôt goes after the conjugated verb, so it becomes Je vais plutôt prendre le train.

I've seen plutôt used to mean "quite" or "fairly." How do I know which meaning it has here?