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If you would rather not read this lesson, at least once you are finished reading it, you will have learned how to say that in Japanese.

The pattern (Xより）むしろ compares two situations to come to the conclusion that the second situation (Situation Y) is more ideal/fitting than the first situation (Situation X).

Depending on the surrounding structures, it may be more natural to translate （より）むしろ as "more so than" or something comparable. This, though, does not detract from its purpose of demonstrating a more ideal situation. 

What's more, the particle より may be emphasized with various adverbial particles to add more nuance to the comparison between Situation X and Situation Y. 

• よりは: The particle は's functions of topicalizing Situation X highlights how it is not so much a desirable situation as Situation Y.
• よりも: The particle も indicates that Situation Y is far more desirable than Situation X. 
• よりか: The particle か adds uncertainty to the comparison between Situation X and Situation Y by making it seem Situation X might not be the best reference point to bolster Situation Y as being ideal. In casual speech, it may be contracted to よか.
• よりかは: With the addition of は after か, Situation X isn't necessarily so bad or perhaps not even a point to be had given how Situation Y is better. 

1. 図書館で勉強するより、むしろカフェのほうが集中できる。
More so than studying at a library, I can concentrate better at a café.  

2. 何もしないよりは、むしろ一日中働いていたほうがいい。
It's better to work all day than doing nothing. 

3. コロナ禍前よりむしろ外食増えてる。
Rather, I've been eating out more than I was before COVID.

4. 寿司よりむしろこのお味噌汁を食べに来てる。

I come here to have the miso soup more so than the sushi. 

5. 焼肉はタレをたくさんつけてしょっぱいと感じるほどなので、寿司よりむしろ塩分量は多いと思います。
The yakiniku tastes super salty when you add a lot of glaze to it, and so I think it has more sodium more so than sushi. 

6. あの子はメイクもケバいよりかはむしろアイシャドウとかもかなり薄めにしてる。
That girl, even when it comes to her makeup, rather than having it be thick, she keeps her eyeshadow and everything on the light side. 

7. 地獄よりかむしろ天国でした！
It was heaven more so than it was hell!

8. 雨よかむしろ強風の方がヤバいんだよね。
Strong wind is way worse than rain, huh.  

9. アメリカよりもむしろカナダに滞在したいと思っています。
I would much rather stay in Canada than the US.

10. 僕はビールよりもむしろテキーラの方が好きだ。
I like tequila far more than I do beer.

11. 外車よりもむしろ日本製の車を買うんだ。
I buy Japanese-made cars far more than I do foreign cars.

12.  パーティーに行くよりむしろ家にいたい。
I'd rather stay inside than go to the party. 

13. むしろこちらのほうがいいと思います。
Rather, I believe that this would be better. 

14. 海岸へ行くよりむしろ遊園地へ行きたい。
I'd rather go to the amusement park rather than the beach.

Orthography Note: The adverb むしろ may seldom be spelled in Kanji as 寧ろ.

The pattern というよりむしろ is synonymous withよりむしろ, and as far as how they differs, the inclusion of という indicates that it can attach to a lot more things with the help of the citation particle と. When という is included, the overall phrase may be translated as, "more so/rather than saying..."

Conjugation Note: The verb, adjective, or adjective noun may either be in the affirmative or negative depending on the situations being compared.

The emphatic forms of より mentioned above apply to this grammar point as well. Meaning, you may see というより rendered as というよりは, というよりも, or というよりかは. 

というよりは translates to "not so much as X than Y" and というよりも translates to "more so Y than X would ever be." Using the particle か adds vagueness to X being the true object of comparison, whereas using the compound-particle かは allows Y to stand out even more as the ideal situation in light of a not so well-defined situation X. 

It is actually possible to take out むしろ in these structures without a change in meaning as its purpose is to emphasize just how much Situation Y is more fitting. For instance, in Ex. 15, むしろ is dropped so that another adverb can be used instead to describe Situation Y in a different light.  

15. 猫派か犬派かというよりも、まずアレルギーのため動物に触れあうことすらできない。

It's not a matter of me being a cat person or a dog person. First of all, I can't even interact with animals because I'm allergic to them. 

16. 可愛いというよりむしろ怖い。
It's scary more so than cute. 

17. 彼女は歌手というよりもむしろ女優です。
She is an actress rather than a singer.

18. 歯の痛みというよりかは歯茎に違和感があったので受診することにした。
I decided to be seen by a doctor because my gums felt strange more so than feeling any sort of pain in my teeth. 

19. 映画を観に行くというよりかは映画館という空間が好きで、ひと月に5つの映画館に行ってるんですよ。
More so than going to see movies, per say, I like movie theatres for the spaces they are, and so I go to five of them in a month.

20. 彼はDVの加害者というよりも妻からのDVの被害者だったのではないかと思われる事実が色々出てきているのだ。
All sorts of facts have been surfacing which indicate that he might very well be the victim of domestic abuse from his wife far more than being the perpetrator of domestic abuse. 

21. ええ、あの子供は利口というか、いや、むしろ天才というべきだ。
Agreed, that kid is bright, no, a genius.

22. 好きじゃないというよりは（むしろ）好きになれないって感じかな？
More so than not liking (him), rather, I feel as if I can't get myself to like (him), or something like that?

23. 実際に行動に移すかどうかはわからないというより、行動に移さない確率のほうがはるかに高い。
More so than not knowing whether (the person) is actually going to (put words) into action, the likelihood that (the person) will not take action is far higher. 

The adverb かえって indicates that Situation Y is the opposite of what one expected, which in this case is Situation X. In comparisons in which Situation Y is being emphasized as being "rather..." more so than Situation X, it is interchangeable with the adverb むしろ showcased earlier. 

However, whenever Situation Y doesn't go as planned in a way that is unpleasant to the speaker, むしろ cannot be used as it is most appropriate when the speaker favors Situation Y. That's not to say that むしろ can't be used with Situation Y statements that are in the negative. In such a situation, the inaction is what is favorable. 

Translation Note: かえって may translated as "on the contrary," "instead," "rather," or even as "all the more." 

Orthography Note: かえって may be spelled in Kanji as 却って or 反って. Although the adverb originates from the verb 返る, the two aforementioned Kanji are preferred to prevent it from being interpreted with a verbal meaning. 

31. 忙しい時のほうが【かえって・むしろ】捗る。
Rather, I make the most progress when I'm busy.

32. 儲けようとして【かえって 〇・むしろ X】損をした。
I tried to make a profit but lost money instead.

33. あの人に勧められたら、かえって 行く気がしなくなかった。
When I was offered (to go) by that person, I felt like not going all the more.

34. 人を束縛することは意味のないことで、無理強いするとかえって逃げられる。

Restraining people is meaningless, and when you coerce them (to do something), they run away from you on the contrary.

35. 誰にでも欠点はあってその欠点があるからこそかえって魅力的なものになったりするものだ。
Everyone has faults, but it is exactly those faults, that are all the more attractive. 

まし is an adjectival noun which describes that something is the least-worst situation (Situation Y), which we saw heavily used in ～ほうがましだ earlier. There is no need to have a preceding clause to use ～ほうがましだ. In fact, it can be used to mean "rather prefer Y" with a wind range of parts of speech.

Having studied the grammar points introduced in this lesson, you now know to express "rather" when comparing two different situations. 

In English, "rather" may also be synonymous with "fairly/pretty," but that meaning is easily expressed with basic adverbs such as かなり or いっそう in Japanese and fall out of the scope of this lesson. 

Now, how exactly would you go about saying, "I would have rather not read this lesson?" In English, it is common to say "I'd rather not (do that)." If this were directly translated into Japanese, you might get むしろしないでおく, but in a basic context like that, 結構です or 遠慮しておきます would be sufficient most of the time.

On the contrary, when providing a contrast with Situation X of not having done it with Situation Y of having done it anyway, it is reasonable to use a pattern such as ～なければよかった in conjunction with かえって to emphasize the unwanted outcome. When the situation has already happened, though, むしろ does become unnatural as it is favored when Situation Y is more ideal. 

それでは、このレッスンを読んで、(かえって)読まなければよかったとでも思っているのでしょうか？