difference between more than and rather than

Question

I like more apples than oranges.

I like apples rather than oranges.

Could anyone tell me the shades of meaning?

Answer 1

Well one difference is that

1. I like more apples than oranges.

is wrong but

2. I like apples, rather than oranges.

is correct.

For 1 you may have been thinking of

3. I like apples more than oranges.

Which is correct.

2 and 3 are nearly the same. The subtle difference is that 3 implies that you like oranges, just not as much as you like apples. 2 doesn't indicate like oranges at all.

Note: when I say 1 is wrong it's only because I'm assuming you don't mean of all the apples and oranges you've tried you've liked more of the apples. This would mean you're judging each on a case by case basis. If you had 3 apples and 2 oranges and liked them all then technically you liked more apples than oranges. But that's a bit silly.

Answer 2

Both expressions are not very good English. Better options include:

I prefer apples to oranges.

I like apples more than oranges.

"Rather than" doesn't really fit well here at all. You could use it like this, though:

Rather than oranges, she chose to eat apples …

… but even that is a bit of a stretch.