How to use instead in a sentence

Instead is an adverb. It means ‘as an alternative’.

  • He didn’t buy a large loaf. Instead, he bought two small loaves.
  • She didn’t go to Greece. Instead, she went to Italy.
  • Don’t marry Peter. Marry me instead.

As an adverb instead goes at the beginning or at the end of a clause. When it goes at the beginning of a sentence, we usually separate it off with a comma.

Instead of is a preposition. Note that instead is not used alone as a preposition.

Compare:

  • I’ll have a piece of cake instead of cookies, please. (NOT I’ll have a piece of cake instead cookies.)

Here the phrase instead of is used as a preposition. Note that a preposition is always followed by a noun or a noun phrase which acts as its object.

  • I don’t want cookies. Instead, I’ll have a piece of cake. Here the word instead is used as an adverb. An adverb doesn’t take an object.
  • Can I have a laptop instead of a tablet computer?
  • I would like to buy a house instead of a flat.

Instead of can be followed by an –ing form. Infinitives are not normally used.

  • I spent the whole day in bed instead of going to work. (NOT I spent the whole day in bed instead of to go to work.)

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English words and Examples of Usage

i altered my typical lunch and had a steak instead.

You might as well read a novel instead of staring at the ceiling.

He stayed at home all day instead of going out.

if you find you read too slowly in a second language, you are probably focusing too much on each word, instead of looking for the overall message.

This movie is one of the first that actually shows the horrors of war instead of glorifying it.

A horse has to change the angle of its head to focus it eye instead of changing the shape of the lens of the eye as we do.

We are hoping that your son will take a more participatory role in sports, instead of just watching the other kids play all the time.

Dwayne was too short to play basketball professionally, so he went into coaching instead.

i'll get my son to go instead of going myself.

She was thinking of buying a new car, but her friend convinced her to buy a used car instead.

She tried some fad diet, but instead of losing weight she just got sick.

The substitution of cream instead of milk in the recipe makes for a richer dessert.

When studying information-heavy subjects such as biology, instead of reading an entire chapter at a time, read small amounts of a textbook and then stop to digest the information.

i think we should get rid of these ugly curtains and put up some blinds instead.

i stayed at home instead of going out.

She decided to drink water instead of soft drinks in order to lose weight.

Her son spends his time smoking dope and philosophizing about the meaning of life instead of looking for a job.

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Academic English Words List and Example Sentences
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How to use instead in a sentence

The Manila selfie museum encouraging visitors to take pictures with art

Have you ever liked a piece of art so much you feel like you�re part of it? Well, a museum in the Philippines is helping people do just that. Art in Island, a museum in Manila, created by a group of Korean artists, features over a hundred unique three dimensional paintings that encourage people to pose in front of them. Each artwork is created in such a way that when...

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How to use instead in a sentence

Nazi hideout in Argentina

Was this a hideout for German Nazi officers? Deep in Argentina�s northern jungle, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of what may have originally been a Nazi hiding place. �It�s a defendable site, a protected site, an inaccessible site, where you can live peacefully in hiding. We believe we�ve found a refuge for the Nazi hierarchy.�Researchers from the University of Buenos Aires...

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How to use instead in a sentence

Family lives with lions

When most people tell you they have a couple of cats at home, these probably aren't the type of cat you�d expect, but for one family in Gaza, these lion cubs are their household pets. Lioness Mona and Alex, who�s a male, were born in the battle-torn Gaza Strip to parents that were smuggled through a ...

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How to use instead in a sentence

Window cleaners have an accident

A terrifying ordeal for two window cleaners in China, as the platform they were working on began swinging violently and smashing into the building. The incident, which took place outside the 91st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, lasted for 15 minutes with their cradle slamming into a wall at one point, sending glass flying into the building and down to the ground.

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How to use instead in a sentence

Two hundred years after the Battle of Waterloo

The hat which French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte wore during the Battle of Waterloo is on its way back to the battlefield which saw his demise. The two-cornered, or bicorne hat, is normally kept in a museum in Sens in east of Paris. It was the one Napoleon wore on June 18th, 1815 when ...

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How do we use instead?

Instead is an adverb. You use it when saying what someone does rather than doing something else. Hema did not answer. Instead she looked out of the taxi window.

What is the example of instead?

I was going to write you an e-mail, but I decided to call instead. I couldn't afford a new car. Instead, I bought a used one.

Where do you put instead in a sentence?

Instead is an adverb and means 'as an alternative'. We can use instead at the beginning or the end of a clause, although in spoken English it is more common at the end. Holidays in Italy are too expensive so we're going to Greece instead. Holidays in Italy are too expensive.

How do you use instead of the middle of a sentence?

In the middle of a sentence, you can optionally set off "instead" with commas to stress a pause. My father wanted me to study architecture. I decided, instead, to become a software engineer. At the start of a sentence, the preposition "instead of" introduces a prepositional phrase (e.g., "instead of eating pizza").