# I'd rather vs. I'd prefer



## fdelnero

What's the difference between

 I'd rather... 
and 
I'd prefear..

They are used in similar situations, but I can't find a real difference.

Thank you


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## sunkitty

They mean the same. Rather has the prepostion "to" for the verb built in.

I'd rather go.
I'd rather stay.
I'd rather walk.

I'd prefer to go.
I'd prefer to stay.
I'd prefer to walk.


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## M_07

Dopo I'd rather devi mettere per forza un verbo mentre dopo I prefer puoi mettere un sostantivo.
I'd rather mi suona un po' come preferirei piuttosto, invece che preferirei solamemte.


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## fdelnero

Clear.

Thanks


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## nico12684

Ragazzi, altra domanda attinente:
Nella frase: "I'd rather you didn't smoke/ don't smoke your cigar in the kitchen.",
che tempo verbale bisogna usare? il past simple (didn't smoke) o il present simple (don't smoke)?
Io credo serva il past simple ma non sono sicuro.
Potete aiutarmi?


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## ériphile

Devi usare il past simple


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## nico12684

Grazie mille..
Mi potresti dire anche perché?
é una costruzione, va così e basta?


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## ériphile

Beh, il fatto è che *I'd rather* sta per *I would rather* e anche in italiano se usi il condizionale e dici *preferirei* poi devi usare il congiuntivo imperfetto ( *preferirei che non fumassi*).


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## nico12684

Ok, grazie mille!!
velocissimo anche !


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## ériphile

Ah, la stessa cosa vale per *I'd prefer*, solo che la costruzione è un po' diversa: *I'd prefer it if you didn't smoke *


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## nico12684

Ok, gentilissimo!


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## rrose17

I really wasn't aware of any rule here but it makes sense as in
I'd prefer if you came earlier.
I prefer if you come earlier.


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## ériphile

nico12684 said:


> Ok, gentilissim*a*!


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## ériphile

rrose17 said:


> I really wasn't aware of any rule here but it makes sense as in
> I'd prefer if you came earlier.
> I prefer if you come earlier.


 
La regola sarebbe quella, anche se poi tanti italiani sbagliano. Io quando andavo al liceo avevo una professoressa che diceva sempre:"vorrei che facciate i compiti"


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## nico12684

Ok, scusa ériphile  gentilissima


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## giginho

Casco in questo vecchio thread cercando conferma ad una cosa che ci aveva detto la nostra prof di inglese (quando ero giovane....ahimé!) e che ho sempre ritenuto sbagliata vista la fonte:

Mi è stato detto che per rafforzare la preferenza si può dire:

I'd rather prefer

Io, per sicurezza, non l'ho mai usato.......voi che mi dite in proposito? è vero?


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## sound shift

"I'd rather prefer" ...  Non l'ho mai sentito.


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## rrose17

È come "Vorrei preferire..."


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## stella_maris_74

giginho said:


> Casco in questo vecchio thread cercando conferma ad una cosa che ci aveva detto la nostra prof di inglese (quando ero giovane....ahimé!) e che ho sempre ritenuto sbagliata vista la fonte:
> 
> Mi è stato detto che per rafforzare la preferenza si può dire:
> 
> I'd rather prefer
> 
> Io, per sicurezza, non l'ho mai usato.......voi che mi dite in proposito? è vero?



Se ne è parlato nel forum English Only:

I'd rather/I'd prefer/I'd rather prefer
Is it possible to use "would you rather prefer?"


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## giginho

sound shift said:


> "I'd rather prefer" ...  Non l'ho mai sentito.



Ahahahah quindi mi confermi che ho fatto bene a diffidare!!!


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## *Snow*

Ciao a tutti!
Scusate se riporto su la discussione, ma vorrei chiedervi un chiarimento sul pattern di I would rather
Allora io so che la sua costruzione è con unreal past in quanto si tratta di un congiuntivo , esempio:
1) I'd rather you did. ( vorrei facessi)
2) I'd rather you had done ( vorrei che tu avessi fatto).

Nell'esempio numero 2, la subordinata è al passato. Io vorrei sapere come rendere la principale al passato in modo da tradurre, ad esempio, "avrei voluto che tu avessi fatto"....cosa mi dite?

Thanks a lot^^


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## PatsRule

*Snow* said:


> Ciao a tutti!
> Scusate se riporto su la discussione, ma vorrei chiedervi un chiarimento sul pattern di I would rather
> Allora io so che la sua costruzione è con unreal past in quanto si tratta di un congiuntivo , esempio:
> 1) I'd rather you did. ( vorrei facessi)
> 2) I'd rather you had done ( vorrei che tu avessi fatto).
> 
> Nell'esempio numero 2, la subordinata è al passato. Io vorrei sapere come rendere la principale al passato in modo da tradurre, ad esempio, "avrei voluto che tu avessi fatto"....cosa mi dite?
> 
> Thanks a lot^^



If you search this site for "avrei voluto" you will find numerous examples that will be of help.  In a nutshell, it will be something like "I wish you had done..."
By the way, both "I would rather you did." and "I would rather you didn't." can stand on their own, however, "I would rather you had done..." (#2) cannot.  
With regards to the latter, I would probably say: "I would have preferred had you done it differently." and not "I'd rather you had done..." - but that's just me


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## rrose17

PatsRule said:


> I would probably say: "I would have preferred had you done it differently." and not "I'd rather you had done..." - but that's just me


Sounds like quite a mouthful to me.  But I am reminded of a Dorothy Parker quote and I couldn't resist "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."


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## *Snow*

PatsRule said:


> If you search this site for "avrei voluto" you will find numerous examples that will be of help.  In a nutshell, it will be something like "I wish you had done..."
> By the way, "I would rather you did." or "I would rather you didn't." can stand on its own, while "I would rather you had done..." cannot.
> I would probably say: "I would have preferred had you done it differently." and not "I'd rather you had done..." - but that's just me



So I can't say "I'd rather you had(not) done!....is that odd? So if I want to express regrets in the past, I should say I wished you had done, shouldn't I?

Just to clarify: I'd like to esxpress regret in the past by using I'd rather,,,,is that possible????


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## PatsRule

*Snow* said:


> So I can't say "I'd rather you had(not) done!  *This is not a complete sentence* ....is that odd? *Yes*, *you can, however say:* *"I'd rather (or I wish) you had/had not done that!" *So if I want to express regrets in the past, I should say I wished you had done, shouldn't I?



It is a bit complicated and I will need more context.  
Grammatically, it is correct to say "I wish you hadn't done that." (by the way, you need the word "that" or you need to add the "something that was done", or else it is not a complete sentence).  It is also grammatically correct to say "I wished you hadn't done that." but the latter is just in a particular context.  For example, if you are telling a story about the past - everything that happened in the past, including your desires/wishes.


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## rrose17

As Pat said what's missing is "that" or "it", _I'd rather you hadn't done *it*_. To me this is perfectly fine. As is _I'd rather you didn't come here anymore_ or _I'd rather you hadn't started doing that again_ etc.


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## *Snow*

rrose17 said:


> What's missing is "it", _I'd rather you hadn't done *it*_. To me this is perfectly fine. As is _I'd rather you didn't come here anymore_ or _I'd rather you hadn't started doing that again_ etc.


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## *Snow*

PatsRule said:


> It is a bit complicated and I will need more context.
> Grammatically, it is correct to say "I wish you hadn't done that." (by the way, you need the word "that" or you need to add the "something that was done", or else it is not a complete sentence).  It is also grammatically correct to say "I wished you hadn't done that." but the latter is just in a particular context.  For example, if you are telling a story about the past - everything that happened in the past, including your desires/wishes.





rrose17 said:


> As Pat said what's missing is "that" or "it", _I'd rather you hadn't done *it*_. To me this is perfectly fine. As is _I'd rather you didn't come here anymore_ or _I'd rather you hadn't started doing that again_ etc.



Well, I haven't got any context, it's just because I was thinking about regrets. So, I've just brushed up the patterns of "wish" and "would rather"....but I haven't found out if it is possible to say "I *wished *You had done that" by using "I'd rather" in the main clause!


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## PatsRule

*Snow* said:


> Well, I haven't got any context, it's just because I was thinking about regrets. So, I've just brushed up the patterns of "wish" and "would rather"....but I haven't found out if it is possible to say "I *wished *You had done that" by using "I'd rather" in the main clause!



If you think of a context where you would want to use this phrase and have a full sentence, I will be happy to translate it for you.  
In general, "I wished" means that your desire was in the past.  
If you are wishing now that something would have (would not have) occurred in the past, then you would use "I wish".
However, if you wished in the past about something that you would have (would not have) wanted to occur in the past, then you would use "I wished".

For example: 
"I remember when I was a teenager, I wished that you had done more for my brothers and me."
vs.
"I wish (now) that you had been a better father to my brothers and me."

I hope I am not making this too complicated for you.


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## *Snow*

PatsRule said:


> If you think of a context where you would want to use this phrase and have a full sentence, I will be happy to translate it for you.
> In general, "I wished" means that your desire was in the past.
> If you are wishing now that something would have (would not have) occurred in the past, then you would use "I wish".
> However, if you wished in the past about something that you would have (would not have) wanted to occur in the past, then you would use "I wished".
> 
> For example:
> "I remember when I was a teenager, I wished that you had done more for my brothers and me."
> vs.
> "I wish (now) that you had been a better father to my brothers and me."
> 
> I hope I am not making this too complicated for you.



Nope, that's crystal clear! Thanks for helping!!!!!! You've been really kind and patient^^!


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## london calling

I agree that 'wish' is often better to express an unreal desire in the past:

I wish (that)  I had studied Greek - _vorrei aver studiato il greco/magari avessi studiato il greco_
*I wish (that) you had met my father - _vorrei che tu avessi conosciuto mio padre/magari (tu) avessi conosciuto mio padre
_
But here we're talking about 'rather', which expresses preference more than it does desire:

I'd rather you went to university in the UK - _preferirei che (tu) facessi l'università in GB_
I'd rather you hadn't told Tom about our little problem! - _avrei preferito che tu non avessi raccontato il nostro problema a Tom._

*If we say:

_I'd rather you had met my father_ (_not my sister when you came round) _we mean _avrei preferito che tu avessi conosciuto mio padre_ (_non mia sorella quando sei venuto a trovarmi)._


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