question tag

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

You'd rather not go to the picnic, _____ you?

a. would b. had

The key is "a". No problem. But since "'d rather" can be "had rather" and "would rather", I think "b" is also correct. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[riquecohen]

Dear teachers,

You'd rather not go to the picnic, _____ you?=You would rather........

a. would b. had

The key is "a". No problem. But since "'d rather" can be "had rather" and "would rather", I think "b" is also correct. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I`d can be confusing for learners, but you should be able to figure out its meaning from the context.
You had rather....is not grammatical. A is the correct option.

[5jj]

You had rather....is not grammatical. A is the correct option.

Correct. Jiang is perhaps thinking of 'd better:

You'd better not do that, had you?

I have a vague memory of reading I had rather in 19th century novels, but cannot confirm this.

[jiang]

Hi riquecohen,

I don't know. I found this in the dictionary:

definition of I'd:
: I would : I had : I should

That's why I am confused.

Jiang

I`d can be confusing for learners, but you should be able to figure out its meaning from the context.
You had rather....is not grammatical. A is the correct option.

[jiang]

Hi fivejedjon,

I don't know. I found this in the dictionary:

definition of I'd:
: I would : I had : I should

That's why I am confused.

Jiang

Correct. Jiang is perhaps thinking of 'd better:

You'd better not do that, had you?

I have a vague memory of reading I had rather in 19th century novels, but cannot confirm this.

[Barb_D]

As riquecohen says, you need to use context to figure it out.

You would rather = common
You had rather = not grammatical in current use.


However, I'd tag it with "wouldn't you" instead of "would you."

The statement is "You would [rather not]," so a negative tag is more natural. It's not "You [would not] rather. At least, that's how it works to my ears.

[riquecohen]

Hi riquecohen,

I don't know. I found this in the dictionary:

definition of I'd:
: I would : I had : I should

That's why I am confused.

Jiang

I`d can be I had or I would. When I said that I had was not grammatical, I was referring only to the specific sentence in which it appeared in your post. I have never seen I`d as a contraction for I should.

[Barb_D]

I have never seen I`d as a contraction for I should.

I missed that part. I haven't either, and suggest your dictionary is simply in error there.

[5jj]

I have never seen I`d as a contraction for I should.

For those speakers who still use shall in the first person for what some insist on calling the Future Tense, and should for the 'past tense' form of this, it could be argued that I'll and I'd are contractions for I shall and I should respectively.