# EN: j'aimerais mieux qu'il vienne



## claraet

Comment traduirait- on "j'aimerais mieux qu'il vienne " ? I'd rather he came ?


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## Keith Bradford

_*I'd rather he came*_.  But I'm not at all sure this means "I had rather" - it could just as easily stand for "I would rather" which to my ear sounds better.


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## jetset

I would prefer him to come.


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## claraet

Keith Bradford said:


> _*I'd rather he came*_.  But I'm not at all sure this means "I had rather" - it could just as easily stand for "I would rather" which to my ear sounds better.



yes , of course , you're right . Thanks.


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## beri

Yes, it means "I would rather".
So I have a question - in this case, "rather" sort of stands as a verb, right?


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## claraet

non , would est un auxiliaire .


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## beri

justement, un auxiliaire appelle un verbe, à moins qu'il y ait des exceptions que j'ignore


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## claraet

désolée , j'avais mal lu la question !


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## LV4-26

_Had rather_ sounds perfectly fine to me.


> Usage Note:  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. This use of had goes back to Middle English and is perfectly acceptable.


Source

Actually, I hear _would_ in
I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail

and _had_ in
I'd rather he came.

....though I'm willing to admit the distinction I'm making rests on no maintainable ground.


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## mamina

i would rather he came


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## LeChimiste

As an English-speaker, I've never heard "had rather" in that context. "Had rather" would be for something like "I had rather a nasty fall the other day" (using "rather" to mean "somewhat of").

In this case, it definitely would be "I would rather he came."


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## LV4-26

If claraet is going to write the full form, then, yes, she had better use _would rather._
Other than that, those of you interested in the _would vs had_ issue may want to have a look at this thread in the EO forum.


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## mnewcomb71

I agree with the "would" v. "had" argument, but I am not sure I am in agreement with the tense of the verb "to come".

I'd rather he come.

Does this make it the subjunctive, which is truer to the original sentence?


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## Maître Capello

The present subjunctive is incorrect after _I'd rather_; you have to use the past subjunctive.

_I'd rather he come. _
_I'd rather he came. _


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## CapnPrep

Maître Capello said:


> The present subjunctive is incorrect after _I'd rather_; you have to use the past subjunctive.


I would rather say that both are possible, with different meanings (and maybe stylistic/dialectal effects). 
*EN: I'd rather he comes/come/came ?* (FEG)
*We had rather you + tense* (SEG, but all in English)


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## mnewcomb71

I am far from a grammarian, but I cannot see how "came" needs to be the past subjunctive.

CapnPrep...I am sorry, but I do not understand your post at all.


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## laalili

I would prefer him to come


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## claraet

for me , came is a preterite with a value of subjunctive , that's  how it is explained in English grammar.


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