⏰ Earlier or faster 👍 Rather or prefer

sooner

1.3

Want to do one thing rather than another

adverb
/ˈsuːnər/

: preferiblemente

BESIDES, I ALWAYS FIGURED YOU'D BE TAKING MY SPOT SOONER OR LATER.

Examples

YES, I AGREE, AND THE SOONER WE GET STARTED, THE BETTER.

When Time Ran Out... (1980)
AND, AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED, AT EXACTLY THE TIME WHEN IT WAS QUITE NATURAL THAT IT SHOULD BE SO AND NOT A MOMENT SOONER, EDMUND CAME TO SPEAK THE WHOLE DELIGHTFUL AND ASTONISHING TRUTH.

Mansfield Park (1999)
And I would, I would argue that more, even more so when they are really into you.
I prefer to finish my work early; the sooner I start, the better it will be.
If you can arrive sooner than planned, we can have more time to prepare.
She would rather choose the option that concludes sooner rather than later.

Synonyms

rather

vssooner

∞ 1.0

Want one thing more than another, for example coffee instead of tea

expresses preference between two options instead of general degree

Compounds

Sooner State

1 4.8

A nickname for the US state of Oklahoma

How Willing

eagerly

67 1.3

willingly

119 1.9

sooner

1.3

reluctantly

80 3.7

unwillingly

8 3.4

Surface Forms

sooner positive

sooner comparative

sooner superlative

Morphology

sooner = soon (semi-transparent) = soon + er

The comparative formation 'soon' + '-er' is clear, but the preference meaning 'rather' is an idiomatic extension that may not be immediately derivable for learners.

Etymology

Sooner comes from the word soon, which meant 'quickly', and the ending -er made it 'more quick'. So when someone says 'I'd sooner stay home', they mean 'I'd rather' — they prefer that option.