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Party Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
a rather or rather a?
Hi,
Would you please explain which one is correct? And if both are, when we should use each of them.
It's rather a hard book.
It's a rather hard book.
Thanks.
Would you please explain which one is correct? And if both are, when we should use each of them.
It's rather a hard book.
It's a rather hard book.
Thanks.
Top answer
In expressions of preference rather is commonly preceded by would: We would rather rent the house than buy it outright. In formal style, should is sometimes used: I should rather my daughter attended a public school. Sometimes had appears in these constructions, although this use of had seems to be growing less frequent: I had rather work with William than work for him.
- In expressions of preference rather is commonly preceded by would: We would rather rent the house than buy it outright.
- In formal style, should is sometimes used: I should rather my daughter attended a public school.
- Sometimes had appears in these constructions, although this use of had seems to be growing less frequent: I had rather work with William than work for him.
- This usage was once widely criticized as a mistake, the result of a misanalysis of the contraction in sentences such as I'd rather stay.
- But it is in fact a survival of the subjunctive form had that appears in constructions like had better and had best, as in We had better leave now.
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1 Answers
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In expressions of preference rather is commonly preceded by would: We would rather rent the house than buy it outright. In formal style, should is sometimes used: I should rather my daughter attended a public school. Sometimes had appears in these constructions, although this use of had seems to be growing less frequent: I had rather work with William than work for him. This usage was once widely
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