Lesson 2: Unreal past with certain phrases

We use the phrases 'would rather' and 'would sooner' to talk about our preferences. These phrases both mean something like 'would prefer'. We can use them to talk about what we want to do, and also to talk about the behaviour we want from other people.

When the second verb refers to the main subject, we use an infinitive without 'to' and no 'that'.

·       I would rather go home now. (I want to go home.)

·       I would sooner have a break. (I want to have a break.)

When we’re using these phrases and the second verbs refers to someone who isn’t the subject, we need to use a clause and not an infinitive.

When we use 'would rather', we can use an optional 'that'. 'Would sooner' doesn't have an optional 'that'. 

Both of these clauses need the unreal past.

·       I would rather (that) you left me alone now. (I want YOU to leave me alone. We are referring to the present, but we use an unreal past.)

·       I would sooner you didn't ask me that again today. (I don't want YOU to ask me that again. In the present, but with an unreal past).

With the verb 'be', again we can choose 'was' or 'were' with 'I, he, she it':

·       I'd rather (that) he weren't in my group today.

·       She'd sooner I weren't invited, I'm sure.

We can also use these phrases to talk about preferences in the past. This is an 'unreal past use', because we’re talking about a situations that would usually need the past simple tense, but we use the past perfect (a tense one step further back in the past) to show that we’re talking about something that didn’t happen.

·       I'd sooner you hadn't told me. (My preference is that you didn't tell me, but in reality you told me.)

·       I'd rather you hadn't come. (My preference is that you didn't come, but in reality you came.)

Finally, there are the set phrases 'it's time' and 'it's high time'. We use these phrases to say 'this needs to happen really soon'. 

We can use 'it's time' either to talk about something general, or to say which person. If we talk in general, we use 'it's time + to-infinitive' or 'it's time + for + noun'.

·       It's time to go.

·       It's time to call a taxi.

·       It's time for dinner.

If we want to specify which person should do the action, we use 'it's time + (that) + subject + past simple' or 'it's time + for + subject + to-infinitive'.

·       It's time (that) we went home. (We should go home really soon.)

·       It's time (that) she let them try by themselves. (She should let them try by themselves soon.)

·       It's time for us to eat. (We should eat soon.)

·       It's time for them to come in now. (They should come in soon.)

We usually use 'it's high time' to add a sense of urgency. We only use 'it's high time' to specify which person should do the action. We don't usually use it to talk about general actions. We use 'it's high time + (that) + subject + past simple'. 

·       It's high time (that) we went to the airport!

·       It's high time (that) he behaved himself.