1. I prefer working to doing nothing.
2. I prefer to work rather than to do nothing.
3. I prefer to work rather than do nothing.
4. I prefer to work to to do nothing.
5. I prefer to work to do nothing.
[Are the sentences from #1 to #3 correct? Which ones are commonly used? What about #4 and #5? Are both totally wrong?]
I thought I answered this before.
4 and 5 don’t make sense. The others are fine.
All the sentences from #1 to #3 are grammatically correct and commonly used.
Sentence #4 "I prefer to work to to do nothing" is not grammatically correct. It includes an extra "to" before "do nothing." The correct sentence would be, "I prefer to work rather than to do nothing."
Sentence #5 "I prefer to work to do nothing" is acceptable but less commonly used. It is a shortened form of "I prefer to work rather than do nothing." In this particular case, it is not necessary to include the second "to."