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Re: USAGE: I'd rather (was: Re: Journalists)

From:caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
Date:Wednesday, June 27, 2007, 15:00
>"Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...> wrote:
>In sentences like "I'd rather that not be true", the verb "would" (a >form of "will") is being used in its sense of "want" or "wish", not >as an auxiliary.
According to the Columbia Guide to Standard American English" (you pick your guide, I'll pick mine :-)), "would rather" and "had rather" are equally correct. Therefore, it seems to me that "would = want" is not correct. That would mean that "had = want" is correct also. I believe "would" in this expression is the auxiliary in the subjunctive without a verb, if it ever even had one in this expression. It is impossible to discern which is meant when the contraction "I'd" is used. Charlie

Replies

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Sai Emrys <sai@...>