Would rather

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#94783 Sat, 30 Apr 05 10:45 AM

Can "would rather" be followed by a verb in past tense?
I would rather you did it. I think if the sentence is like this, it would be correct: I would rather that you did it. I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks a lot.

Guest

Verbs, Tenses, Past Tenses

CalifJim

#94844 Sat, 30 Apr 05 05:29 PM

Yes, you can use past tense after "would rather".
And, as with thousands of other such cases, you can connect with "that" or not; both are correct.

I hope you do it. I hope that you do it.
He says he's tired. He says that he's tired.

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,777)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Tenses, Past Tenses

paco2004

#94910 Sat, 30 Apr 05 10:03 PM

Hello Guest

I'm a mere learner from Japan but allow me to make trivial additions to CJ's comment.

In English we have several verbs used in a similar way to express our hope/desire: desire, expect, hope, wish, would rather. They all can be followed by a that-clause, but they are slightly different in grammar. We may class them into three groups;

[1] hope/expect
that clause : (1) present/future (2) indicative
I hope/expect you do it now
I hope/expect my daughter will learn English in future.

[2] desire
that clause : (1) present/future (2) subjunctive (formal), indicative (informal)
I desire he come[AmE]/should come[BrE]/will come tomorrow.

[3] wish/would rather
that clause : (1) past/present/future (2) subjunctive
I wish/would rather I had learned English more when I was young.
I wish/would rather you did it now.
I wish/would rather my daughter learn English in future.

CJ, would kindly correct them if I made any mistakes in this message.

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

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