Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rainism]

I know very little of the rules of grammar but can normally rely on finely tuned antennae as to what "sounds" right or not.

even when it's every day spoken (but "incorrect" English)

here is the conundrum

she would rather have been playing

vs

She would have rather been playing


There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that the first answer is by far the best and the more formal one. The 2nd one sounds strange and "tortured" to me, I'd never say it that way, much less ever write it on a paper or state in in a speech, etc.

sounds to me like carelessness on part of casual English with some, but I'm not 100% certain I can completely label it as "incorrect". (even formally)

what sayeth you?

Yet..

I WOULD much more readily accept .. she would have rather played..
(with past tense, rather than past progressive)

thank you in advance.

[bioberd]

You are correct in logic. The first one is more correct then the second sentence. Unfortunately, people do use the second sentence as if it is correct but the correct form is in past tense.

[Kinbensha]

As a linguist, and not a grammarian, I'd advise you to do away with your idea of "correct" and "incorrect" English. If native speakers say it, it's correct, period.

In terms of teaching "Standard" English, however, I would say that no one would hear a difference between those two sentences. They're both said often enough that I had to read them twice to even see where the difference was.

While writing a formal, academic essay, the formal register would be best. So, you're right. "She would rather have been playing," is the more formal, "Standard" choice.

[j20kim]

OP, someone asked me the same exact question.

While I think that "I would have rather been playing" should be acceptable, I can't explain why it is correct.

Because we're talking about grading here, does anyone know if "would have rather" is actually grammatically correct? Yes, it is not preferred over "would rather have," but is it grammatically sound? Can the past progressive ("have" and "been") be split?

Any help would be appreciated.

[rainism]

[rainism]

[j20kim]

[rainism]

[different]

To me, both sentences are fine, and in fact the second one seems smoother. The first one doesn't seem more formal or anything.

What you found on Google isn't convincing because it's just another forum and two of the three examples they talk about are kind of weird anyway.

[rainism]

[rainism]

[isitts]

[different]

Rainism, you might be right. But if university-educated native speakers don't even know the answer, it's not material your co-teacher should be spending time on in her class, unless her class is an advanced class at a foreign language high school.

Nonetheless, your question is interesting, and the second sentence still sounds right to me.

[The Cosmic Hum]

[meangradin]

As far as i know, there is no rule that prevents the injection of the adverb "rather" in the present perfect progressive verb group "have been playing" after "have." The closest rule I can think of is the "split infinitive" rule, but this is always struck me as an absurd rule, as splitting the infinitive in no way changes the meaning: "to go boldly" v. to boldly go" is a famous example from Star Trek that violates the infinitive rule. So, back to the OP, I don't think there is an appreciable semantic difference between the two sentences.