sooner

1. 1
   adverb

   Comparative of soon.

   The repairs were finished sooner than the contractor had promised.

   Spring arrived sooner this year than it did last year.

   Note

   In everyday use, the time comparative is followed by than and the point it beats: sooner than promised, sooner than last year. Soon can also mean 'readily, willingly' when it is paired with would, and that use is where the 'rather' meaning comes from. To tell the two apart, ask what is being compared. Here it is when something happens; there it is which choice someone prefers.

2. 2
   adverb

   Used to express that one would prefer one thing over another; more readily or willingly.

   He would sooner quit his job than work under those conditions.

   Most travelers would sooner pay extra than sit through a long layover.

   Similarrather

   Note

   Here the comparison is between choices, not times. The usual frame is would sooner … than, and both halves take a bare verb: would sooner die than marry. Sooner than can also open a sentence with a bare infinitive: Sooner than have a problem later, I checked the policy. Rather fits either slot. Sooner adds a faint echo of time, which that second pattern exploits.

3. 3
   adjective

   Comparative of soon. Rare as an adjective; earlier is the usual word.

   Note

   The adjective stands where earlier usually would: a sooner appointment is simply the earlier of two. It builds on soon in its adjectival senses, meaning 'short in time from now' and, in US dialect, 'early'. Modern English uses soon mainly as an adverb, so the adjectival comparative is uncommon. In careful writing, earlier is the more natural choice before a noun.

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