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Silak12 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Had rather-past perfect?

Hi! everyone Could you tell me,what does Had rather-past perfect implies?
Is it correct to say as in the following scenario- A - Would you mind if I smoked? B- I had rather you hadn't smoked.
Is the B's answer = I would rather you didn't? I mean,is"I had rather you hadn't smoked.in present tense?
Thanks!
  

Top answer

Hi, Could you tell me,what does Had rather-past perfect implies? Is it correct to say as in the following scenario- A - Would you mind if I smoked? B- I had rather you hadn't smoked.

— Clive

  • Hi, Could you tell me,what does Had rather-past perfect implies?
  • Is it correct to say as in the following scenario- A - Would you mind if I smoked?
  • B- I had rather you hadn't smoked.
  • Is the B's answer = I would rather you didn't?
  • in present tense?
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5 Answers
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Hi,
Could you tell me,what does Had rather-past perfect implies?
Is it correct to say as in the following scenario- A - Would you mind if I smoked? B- I had rather you hadn't smoked.
Is the B's answer = I would rather you didn't? I mean,is"I had rather you hadn't smoked.in present tense?

I had rather you hadn'
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B's answer is "would" NOT "had."
In the past tense you could say "I would have rather," which would be okay. You would never say "I had rather you hadn't smoked."
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In this specific case "I would have rather you hadn't smoked" sounds pretty artificial. It would be more fluid/fluent to say "I'd have preferred you not to smoke." I hope that this isn't too-badly clarified.
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Hi! Arbitrary,you raised another question in my mind,
What should I use "I would have rather you hadn't smoked" or "I would rather you hadn't smoke"
Which is correct?
Thanks!
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"I would have rather you hadn't smoked" is the sort of thing that native speakers might say - it's not perfect, but it's not an unusual sort of error, especially in spoken English. "I would have rather you'd not smoked" is much better. The contraction being on the you had rather than the had not.

Hope that helps!
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