Mary would rather I come / came to her house tomorrow.

Where I grew up in New Jersey (northeast USA) people would say:

Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.

@aidan,

Quote:

Where I grew up in New Jersey (northeast USA) people would say:

Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.

Aidan, would they also say,

Mary would rather he come to her house tomorrow.

Mary would rather she come to her house tomorrow.

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

Quote:

Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.
Mary would rather I came to her house tomorrow.

Do both sentences have the same meaning?

Ms Tan, could you explain whether you think they have the same meaning and if so, why you think this way?

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

Aidan, would they also say,

Mary would rather he come to her house tomorrow.

Mary would rather she come to her house tomorrow.

I'm saying this out loud to ascertain what sounds most familiar and natural to my ear and I think I would say:
'Mary would rather s/he came to her house tomorrow,'
or even:
'Mary would rather s/he comes to her house tomorrow.'

0 Replies

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Quote:
Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.
Mary would rather I came to her house tomorrow.

Do both sentences have the same meaning?

Ms Tan, could you explain whether you think they have the same meaning and if so, why you think this way?

In my opinion, Contrex's answer is correct. The sentence with 'cone' is, I think, non-standard English.

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

You would be wrong, then.

2 Replies

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

You would be wrong, then.

Hi JTT, so far you have not stated which is the correct sentence, and whether there is any difference in meaning between them if both the sentences are correct.

I would be grateful for your comments.

0 Replies

Either one is fine. the first is an example of what some linguists have called the extended present--exactly what constitutes present and what future is soemwhat amorphous. Is an action one second from now in the future, or is it still the present. If the movie starts in an hour and you won't leave for forty-five minutes, you could say either "I'm going to the movies" or "I will be going to the movies". You can talk about something you'll be doing in three days time in the present tense as something you'll do this week. And so on. It's a subtle indication of the speaker's outlook on time. But in everyday usage the two pretty much mean the same thing. If I heard either one I'd derive the same message from it.

1 Reply

@MontereyJack,

Thanks, MJ.

However, JTT seems to disagree.

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

If you look up the definition of "JTT" in the dictionary, the first definition is "1. Congenital disagreer with everything."

2 Replies

@MontereyJack,

JTT wrote

Quote:

Could you two please sort out the discrepancies here?

Which means he did not know which side of the fence to be.

But for sheer helpfulness, conciseness and correctness, I refer you to my earlier answer.

Wink

0 Replies

@McTag,

Quote:

If you look up the definition of "JTT" in the dictionary, the first definition is "1. Congenital disagreer with everything."

MJ: [to Contrex] Not dialect at all. Either one is fine.

Rolling Eyes

Why do you disagree with Contrex but take no issue with McTag's statement, MJ? Are you simply a confused "disagreer"?

======================
Contrex: The first is dialect; the second is standard. Both have the same meaning.

Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.

[dialect therefore non-standard]

Mary would rather I came to her house tomorrow.

[standard, so we assume it's not dialect

-----------------------

McTag: And here's another answer, different from both: the first is subjunctive, and is correct. The second is also okay, quite permissible in normal speech, but not so posh.

Mary would rather I come to her house tomorrow.

[correct so we assume standard, ie. not dialect]

Mary would rather I came to her house tomorrow.

[speech, so do we assume 'dialect' and therefore not standard. What does 'dialect' mean, speech or BrE versus AmE versus AuE versus CdE versus NzE?

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

Came is better, it's about as close as English comes to having a subjunctive voice or any such.

There isn't really much of anything you'd call grammar in English.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Quote:

In my opinion, Contrex's answer is correct. The sentence with 'come' is, I think, non-standard English.

Quote:

You would be wrong, then.

About which part, McTag? Contrex did say that both were okay.

=================

Ms Tan, I'm pretty sure every native speaker in this thread has confirmed that both are okay. If both are okay, then that means that both are correct.

But there has been a great deal of confusion.

0 Replies

@MontereyJack,

"1. Congenital disagreer with everything."

2. anal ulcer

1 Reply

@Rockhead,

Whoda figured that the coward would ever show up on a language thread?

Quote:

2. anal ulcer

Is that what you're whining about these days on the "I'm a whiny ole fart" thread, Rocky?

0 Replies

@gungasnake,

Quote:

Came is better, it's about as close as English comes to having a subjunctive voice or any such.

What complete and utter nonsense, GS. When it comes to the subjunctive people just like to show off. It's such a great word - you can throw it out with wild abandon and make others think you're cerebral.

English has a subjunctive just like any other language does. The subjunctive mood doesn't die because some subjunctive forms become moribund or die out altogether.

Quote:

There isn't really much of anything you'd call grammar in English.

An equally dumb statement. You should have stopped while you were ahead. You would have at least tricked those who swoon when someone says 'subjunctive'.

0 Replies

@JTT,

This is JTT saying, in that roundabout and circumlocutious way of his, that I was right first time.

And brief, I may add.

Thanks. And sorry for bringing up the subjunctive.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Quote:

This is JTT saying, in that roundabout and circumlocutious way of his, that I was right first time.

Quote:

And here's another answer, different from both: the first is subjunctive, and is correct. The second is also okay, quite permissible in normal speech, but not so posh.

This thread was an absolute study in confusion, McTag. You were mostly right, except for some misleading that seems to be cast in stone for you.

One isn't 'correct' and the other 'okay', even 'quite permissible'.

Why try to offer good advice and spoil it with misleading advice?

1 Reply

@JTT,

I thought my advice was quite useful, and not wrong.

Accessible. User-friendly.

1 Reply

Mary would rather I come / came to her house tomorrow.

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know