The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER + bare infinitive

Would rather/sooner is followed by a bare infinitive if the subject of would rather/sooner is the same as the doer of the action expressed by the following verb.

WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER + simple or continuous infinitive

Would rather/sooner + simple or continuous infinitive expresses preferences about the present:

I'

d rather go

by bike than walk.

(I'd prefer to go by bike rather than walk.)

Where

would

you

rather sleep

?

(Where would you prefer to sleep?)

I'

d rather be writing

my paper.

(I'd prefer to be writing my paper.)

The negative is would rather not:

I

would rather not go out

tonight.

(I'd prefer not to go out tonight.)

If we leave out rather, we get the main clause of a sentence in the second conditional:

Where

would

you

sleep

(if you could choose)?

Quotes:

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. - Emma Goldman

Related topics:

Second conditional

WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER + perfect infinitive

Would rather/sooner + perfect infinitive expresses preferences about the past and means that the desired action was not performed:

Would

you

rather have had

pork than beef?

(Would you have preferred pork to beef?)

I'

d rather have walked

, but I went by bus because it was raining.

(I would have liked to walk, but I went by bus because it was raining.)

If we omit rather, we get the main clause of a sentence in the third conditional:

I

would have walked

(if it hadn't been raining).

Related topics:

Third conditional