May I ask for a little clarification on subjunctive and bare infinitive?
I have just finished reading an extremely long thread on the above mentioned subjects on this site: (https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/demand-request-suggest-that-bare-infinitive-subjunctive-indicative.384237/)
Although a lot of things cleared up to me, I still have a little confusion about these two sentences :
I'd rather that he be on time.
I'd rather he was on time.
I found the first one among the examples of a native answerer but i was taught in school that if there's a subject in a "i'd rather-type-sentence" i should use past tense.
So now i'm a bit puzzled...are they maybe different because of using "that" one time and not using it the other time?
Thank you all in advance,
Mate
subjunctive-mood bare-infinitive
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
add a comment |
I have just finished reading an extremely long thread on the above mentioned subjects on this site: (https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/demand-request-suggest-that-bare-infinitive-subjunctive-indicative.384237/)
Although a lot of things cleared up to me, I still have a little confusion about these two sentences :
I'd rather that he be on time.
I'd rather he was on time.
I found the first one among the examples of a native answerer but i was taught in school that if there's a subject in a "i'd rather-type-sentence" i should use past tense.
So now i'm a bit puzzled...are they maybe different because of using "that" one time and not using it the other time?
Thank you all in advance,
Mate
subjunctive-mood bare-infinitive
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
I have just finished reading an extremely long thread on the above mentioned subjects on this site: (https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/demand-request-suggest-that-bare-infinitive-subjunctive-indicative.384237/)
Although a lot of things cleared up to me, I still have a little confusion about these two sentences :
I'd rather that he be on time.
I'd rather he was on time.
I found the first one among the examples of a native answerer but i was taught in school that if there's a subject in a "i'd rather-type-sentence" i should use past tense.
So now i'm a bit puzzled...are they maybe different because of using "that" one time and not using it the other time?
Thank you all in advance,
Mate
subjunctive-mood bare-infinitive
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
I have just finished reading an extremely long thread on the above mentioned subjects on this site: (https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/demand-request-suggest-that-bare-infinitive-subjunctive-indicative.384237/)
Although a lot of things cleared up to me, I still have a little confusion about these two sentences :
I'd rather that he be on time.
I'd rather he was on time.
I found the first one among the examples of a native answerer but i was taught in school that if there's a subject in a "i'd rather-type-sentence" i should use past tense.
So now i'm a bit puzzled...are they maybe different because of using "that" one time and not using it the other time?
Thank you all in advance,
Mate
subjunctive-mood bare-infinitive
subjunctive-mood bare-infinitive
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
asked yesterday
MateMate
183
183
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
Collins Cobuild English Usage (p567) states:
You can use would rather followed by a clause to say that you
would prefer something to happen or to be done. In the clause you use
the past simple tense.
Would you rather she came to see me?
- May I go? - I 'd rather you didn't.
Practical English Usage (p492) has a rather more nuanced entry:
We can use would rather to say that a person would prefer somebody
to do something. We use a special structure with a past tense.
would rather + subject + past tense
I 'd rather you went home now.
Tomorrow's difficult. I 'd rather you came next weekend.
My wife would rather we didn't see each other anymore.
Shall I open a window? - I 'd rather you didn't.
A present tense or present subjunctive is possible e.g. (I'd rather
he goes / he go home now), but unusual.
As a British English native speaker I am unlikely to say I'd rather that he be on time. But some American English speakers in particular may prefer it to its past tense alternative.
The presence or absence of that makes no difference here.
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491061%2fmay-i-ask-for-a-little-clarification-on-subjunctive-and-bare-infinitive%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Collins Cobuild English Usage (p567) states:
You can use would rather followed by a clause to say that you
would prefer something to happen or to be done. In the clause you use
the past simple tense.
Would you rather she came to see me?
- May I go? - I 'd rather you didn't.
Practical English Usage (p492) has a rather more nuanced entry:
We can use would rather to say that a person would prefer somebody
to do something. We use a special structure with a past tense.
would rather + subject + past tense
I 'd rather you went home now.
Tomorrow's difficult. I 'd rather you came next weekend.
My wife would rather we didn't see each other anymore.
Shall I open a window? - I 'd rather you didn't.
A present tense or present subjunctive is possible e.g. (I'd rather
he goes / he go home now), but unusual.
As a British English native speaker I am unlikely to say I'd rather that he be on time. But some American English speakers in particular may prefer it to its past tense alternative.
The presence or absence of that makes no difference here.
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
Collins Cobuild English Usage (p567) states:
You can use would rather followed by a clause to say that you
would prefer something to happen or to be done. In the clause you use
the past simple tense.
Would you rather she came to see me?
- May I go? - I 'd rather you didn't.
Practical English Usage (p492) has a rather more nuanced entry:
We can use would rather to say that a person would prefer somebody
to do something. We use a special structure with a past tense.
would rather + subject + past tense
I 'd rather you went home now.
Tomorrow's difficult. I 'd rather you came next weekend.
My wife would rather we didn't see each other anymore.
Shall I open a window? - I 'd rather you didn't.
A present tense or present subjunctive is possible e.g. (I'd rather
he goes / he go home now), but unusual.
As a British English native speaker I am unlikely to say I'd rather that he be on time. But some American English speakers in particular may prefer it to its past tense alternative.
The presence or absence of that makes no difference here.
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
Collins Cobuild English Usage (p567) states:
You can use would rather followed by a clause to say that you
would prefer something to happen or to be done. In the clause you use
the past simple tense.
Would you rather she came to see me?
- May I go? - I 'd rather you didn't.
Practical English Usage (p492) has a rather more nuanced entry:
We can use would rather to say that a person would prefer somebody
to do something. We use a special structure with a past tense.
would rather + subject + past tense
I 'd rather you went home now.
Tomorrow's difficult. I 'd rather you came next weekend.
My wife would rather we didn't see each other anymore.
Shall I open a window? - I 'd rather you didn't.
A present tense or present subjunctive is possible e.g. (I'd rather
he goes / he go home now), but unusual.
As a British English native speaker I am unlikely to say I'd rather that he be on time. But some American English speakers in particular may prefer it to its past tense alternative.
The presence or absence of that makes no difference here.
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
Collins Cobuild English Usage (p567) states:
You can use would rather followed by a clause to say that you
would prefer something to happen or to be done. In the clause you use
the past simple tense.
Would you rather she came to see me?
- May I go? - I 'd rather you didn't.
Practical English Usage (p492) has a rather more nuanced entry:
We can use would rather to say that a person would prefer somebody
to do something. We use a special structure with a past tense.
would rather + subject + past tense
I 'd rather you went home now.
Tomorrow's difficult. I 'd rather you came next weekend.
My wife would rather we didn't see each other anymore.
Shall I open a window? - I 'd rather you didn't.
A present tense or present subjunctive is possible e.g. (I'd rather
he goes / he go home now), but unusual.
As a British English native speaker I am unlikely to say I'd rather that he be on time. But some American English speakers in particular may prefer it to its past tense alternative.
The presence or absence of that makes no difference here.
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
answered yesterday
ShoeShoe
25.8k43889
25.8k43889
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! You're just great!
– Mate
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
I don't know I’d use be there myself, but I might well use were.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491061%2fmay-i-ask-for-a-little-clarification-on-subjunctive-and-bare-infinitive%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
@Toothrot Me, I’d rather he were on time. :)
– tchrist♦
yesterday