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KhoshtipMan Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Prefer and caluses

Does this sentence have grammar mistakes?
I prefer my friend to come here.

Isn't "I prefer [that]" a clause and the rest another clause so that we say I prefer my friend comes here.
  

Top answer

KhoshtipMan I prefer my friend to come here. It's OK, but a rather rare pattern. The more common patterns are these.

— AlpheccaStars

  • KhoshtipMan I prefer my friend to come here.
  • It's OK, but a rather rare pattern.
  • The more common patterns are these.
  • I prefer that my friend come here, not there.
  • (subjunctive mood in dependent clause after "prefer") I prefer to come here.
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8 Answers
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KhoshtipManI prefer my friend to come here.
It's OK, but a rather rare pattern.

The more common patterns are these.
I prefer that my friend come here, not there. (subjunctive mood in dependent clause after "prefer")
I prefer to come here. (catenative verb, followed by the infinitive)
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Thank you. What about the clauses? And why didn't you use "comes" in your suggestion.
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KhoshtipManAnd why didn't you use "comes" in your suggestion.
We use the subjunctive mood after certain verbs such as prefer, suggest, advise, recommend, demand.
http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/subjunctive.html
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You are right. Thank you.
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I prefer my friend to come here is more natural in BrE than I prefer that my friend come(s) here.
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fivejedjon I prefer that my friend come(s) here.
Isn't comes incorrect? As AS pointed it out the sentence is in subjunctive mood. (desire)
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Few speakers of BrE use the present subjunctive except in a few fixed phrases.
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The subjunctive is one of those dying artifacts of an earlier highly inflected grammar as are the objective case of who and the irregular past of strong verbs. However, the rate of decline and replacement with regular forms is different in different groups.

The subjunctive still is used in the UK, although it is is declining. Here are examples from the Guardian, a UK newspaper (fr
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