Expressing preferences

Prefer
Prefer+gerund+to+gerund
This is usually used to talk about general preferences.
I prefer playing basketball to watching it.
Would prefer+infinitive with to+rather than+infinitive without to
This is normally used to talk about preferences on a specific occasion.
I'd prefer to walk to school today rather than go by bus.

Would rather
Would rather+infinitive without to+than+infinitive without to (same meaning as would prefer to)
I'd rather not talk about it at the moment.


http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=rather