Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: I would have rathered

E' possibile una forma del genere oppure, come pensavo prima di sentirla, è 
totalmente sbagliata? Nessuno dei dizionari che ho consultato segnala 
"rather" come verbo, eppure cercando su google sembra un uso abbastanza 
comune... 

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Non l'ho sentito mai, benché si possa trovarlo cercando su Google. Dico 
invece "I would have rather (verbo o 'that')". 

 comune... 
Mai sentita e, oserei dire, completamente sbagliata.
-- 
Don't f*ck with me bitch, I'm the mightiest sorcerer of the lands.

 wrote in message
news:ilW1l.125288$Ca.2...@twister2.libero.it...
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Rather is definitely not a verb.
Maybe he was thinking of something like "I would rather have....  "
«491 Rather - Preference
.....
2 would rather
This expression means 'would prefer to', and is followed by the infinitive
without to. We often use the contraction 'd rather.
Would you rather stay here or go home?
How about a drink? - I'd rather have something to eat.
The negative is would rather not.
I'd rather not go out tonight. (NOT I wouldn't rather ... )
3 would rather: past tense with present or future meaning
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 any more.
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. To talk about past actions, a past perfect tense is
possible.
I'd rather you hadn't done that.
However, this kind of idea is usually expressed with I wish (see 630).
I wish you hadn't done that.
In older English, had rather was used in the same way as would rather. This
structure is still found in grammars, but it is not normally used.»
(Swan, "Practical English Usage")
Joe from Massachusetts

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Magari ho sentito male io... la frase viene ripetuta due volte, e la seconda 
è piuttosto chiara (la prima invece per me non lo era). Comunque ho anche i 
sottotitoli e confermano questa stranezza. Chi può, dia un ascolto qui:
[file mp3, 116 kb]
http://snipurl.com/8mudi
 

 wrote in message
news:Fo72l.219515$FR.5...@twister1.libero.it...
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Don't be led astray by the 96,000 hits on Google into thinking that this is
a colloquialism rather than an egregious common error. Maybe the author
thinks it sounds like Old English, or even Shakespearean, but the Bard never
used the word "rathered", nor did he ever use "rather" as a verb.
This difficulty in using "would rather" correctly may have given rise to the
American noun "druthers".
http://www.yourdictionary.com/druthers
Joe from Massachusetts
.

 wrote in message
news:gi9dsa$iju$1...@news.motzarella.org...
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The word order changes the meaning.
"I would rather have X than Y" means I prefer X to Y. "Would rather"
expresses preference.
"I would rather have finished the work before the deadlline".
When rather follows the verb, as in "I would have rather", the meaning of
"rather" is that of an adverb of degree, and has nothing to do with
preference.
"I would have rather enjoyed the play had it not been so long". "Would" and
"rather" are not coupled. "Rather" here is an adverb of degree, and has
nothing to to with preference.
Joe from Massachusetts

 has nothing to to with preference.
The example given was "I would have ratherer(d)" not "I would rather". In
any case, although your examples do follow the rule you express, I don't
think that it's true in all situations.
I would have rather gone myself than allowed him to go.
(You can also say "I would rather have gone..." but it expresses a feeling
in the present.)
I would have rather that you told me in advance.
(You can also say "I would rather that..." but it expresses a feeling in the
present.)
In both cases, rather expresses a preference.

 nothing to to with preference.
Are you sure? It sounds to me like some sort of "preference in the 
past", while the former examples were "preference in the present", as it 
were.
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.
-- 
There are two kinds of Italians, those who work for Berlusconi and those 
who are about to.


No doubt at all - 'rather' modifies 'have enjoyed' ; 'I would have enjoyed 
the play' - to what extent ? 'rather' tells you - adv. of degree , as Joe 
said .
If you wanted to express preference here (i.e. you'd have liked the play 
more if it'd been shorter) you'd say 'I would have enjoyed the play more had 
it not been so long'.
Mike 

 No doubt at all - 'rather' modifies 'have enjoyed' ; 
Sorry, I have just  reread Joe's messagge and, all of a sudden, it was 
all clear. Apparently, I shouldn't engage in discussions like this when 
I'm doing a dozen things at the same time.
:-/
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