くらいならWould rather...than, Rather than, Better off

くらいなら will often be translated as 'would rather (B) than (A)', or 'better off (B) than (A)'. It is a grammar pattern that combines the adverbial particle usages of くらい 'about' and なら 'if' to imply that 'if it gets to the extent of (A), then (B)', where (B) will be something that is preferable. くらいなら will be used directly following verbs in their dictionary forms.

• あの地域(ちいき)に引(ひ)っ越(こ)すくらいなら、死(し)んだ方(ほう)がマシだ。

  I would rather die, than move to that neighborhood.
• あの先輩(せんぱい)の下(もと)で働(はたら)くぐらいなら、一人(ひとり)で働(はたら)いた方(ほう)がいいと思(おも)うよ。

  I think you would be better off working alone, than working under that senpai.
• 何十万(なんじゅうまん)もかけて直(なお)すくらいなら、もう少(すこ)し出(だ)して新(あたら)しい車(くるま)を買(か)った方(ほう)がいい。

  I would rather buy a new car that is a little expensive than pay thousands of dollars to fix this car.

As this structure emphasizes (A) as being something that is undesirable, (B) will often contain statements that offer a solution, suggestion, or opinion, such as ほうがいい 'would be better to', ほうがましだ 'would be less bad', なさい 'do!'.

Caution

Although くらいなら will always follow a verb in dictionary form, the second half of the sentence may imply that (A) has actually already happened, and the speaker is wishing that it hadn't. In these cases, くらいなら almost always translates to 'if I had known that (A), then I would have (B)'.

• え、前(まえ)使(つか)ってたパソコン捨(す)てちゃったの？捨(す)てるくらいなら俺(おれ)が買(か)ったのに。

  What… You threw away the computer you were using? I would have bought it from you rather than you throw it away.
• あんな奴(やつ)に頼(たの)むぐらいなら、自分(じぶん)でやればよかった。

  I should have done it myself, rather than asking a person like that to do it.