Is "rather" shifting to become a verb?

Question

In colloquial English, I constantly run across sentences of the form:

I rather my [noun] [verb]

A quick Google search returns tons of examples:

• I rather my opponents don't find out.
• I rather my fans not read this.
• I rather my teeth froze than hurt.
• I rather my smile with the braces on.
• I rather my kids smoke pot than drink alcohol.

Looks like "rather" is on its way to becoming a verb, a synonym of "to prefer". When did that start? Obviously there are several steps to this process, from "I'd rather do X" via "I'd rather X" to "I rather X". But none of the dictionaries I have checked, from Hornby to Merriam-Webster to Cambridge to Wiktionary, seem to have picked up this usage just yet. So how recent is this phenomenon?

Edit five years later, just discovered this gem in an MMOG forum:

I would rather the team not be hard at work to fix things. I would have rathered the team be given a realistic amount of time to put together as complete a product as possible.

So the shift is nearing completion. And going by that user's posts, we're looking at a native speaker here. However, their location is unclear from their profile. Can someone supply any data on where this usage is common or spreading now?

Answer 1

In this case, I think "would" is being used as the subjunctive of "will," "will" meaning to desire. So in the case you describe, it means something akin to "wish." I admit it sounds archaic, but I'm pretty sure it's okay. I know Shakespeare uses "I would it were..." often enough. And as you set out in the question, we still use it today.

The first two sentences, as written, don't make sense. "Rather" is not a verb. I've never heard it used like one, either. I'm guessing if you've heard that it was a mistake, and they meant to say/ type "I'd rather..."

So, as far as I know "I rather my opponents don't find out" doesn't make sense. "I'd rather my opponents don't find out" does. You can insert a verb into most of the sentences if using "would" as the subjunctive of will bothers you, but it's not necessary.

Answer 2

I'd say that rather than 'rather' being a verb here, the verb is omitted and presumed to be obvious.

Now, pedantically speaking, this may be something to frown upon, but is certainly common. And, I agree, it is jarring to hear.

Answer 3

In all but your first two examples, there is a verb - it's the contracted would in I'd. So the rather is modifying that would, which is used as the subjunctive of 'will' in the sense of 'want'.

Answer 4

"Rather" here is functioning as an adverb. I don't understand those who say that there is no verb. This is a classic example of a fossilized, fixed expression, of which English (and most languages) have many.

As kitukwyfer stated, "would" here is the subjunctive of "will" in its older sense of "want", and the word order dates from a time when English, like German, had a stronger preference for verb-second word order, in which the finite verb is always the second phrasal element of a clause. (This can still be found in other fossilized expressions like "so do I" in which the word "I" is shifted to the end because the verb must occupy the second position.)

To sum up, every one of these expressions has not one, but two verbs. In this fixed expression, the so-called auxiliary is not really functioning as an auxiliary. It is the main verb, the subjunctive of its older meaning of "want," modified by the adverb "rather".

Answer 5

Edit: A situation similar to that of “would rather” arises with “must away” in things like:

Farewell we call to hearth and hall!
Though wind may blow and rain may fall,
We must away ere break of day
Far over wood and mountain tall.

Just because “must away” seems to lack a verb immediately following the must does not make away function as a verb there. The actual verb is omitted, elliptically. That’s the same thing as is going on with “would rather”.  Away is still an adverb just as rather is still an adverb. Both constructs are a bit elliptical is all.

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This is all covered under the OED’s sense 8 of rather, adv.. Full citations provided for senses 8e and 8f below:

⁠8. Sooner (as a matter of choice); more readily or willingly; with greater liking or goodwill; in preference.

• a. Used to express choice between two courses of action, or preference for one outcome or event over another. Freq. with would.

  In sentences of this type rather is placed either before the verb or clause expressing the action or event preferred, or immediately before than. For the use of to after than, see than conj. 1a.

• b. Used to express choice between two things, people, qualities, conditions, etc. Also †no rather, †more rather.

• c. Without than, in contrast to a preceding (sometimes implied) assertion. Used to indicate an alternative course of action, state of affairs, etc. Also the rather (rare), but rather.

• d. had rather: would rather; (see have v. 21c). †Hence to have rather (rare): to choose or prefer‥rather.

  The infinitive after had or have is sometimes preceded by to.

• e. would rather: would rather have or choose.

  • 1557    T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes 96,   I woulde rather one onely day of lyfe then all the ryches of Roome.
  • 1630    Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xlix,   I would rather never to haue light, then not to haue it alwayes.
  • 1675    R. Burthogge Cavsa Dei 99   The Parent‥who would rather than the better part of his estate‥he could reclaim and turn him.
  • a1727    W. Pattison Poet. Wks. (1728) II. 35   O! could I hide the Wish I fear to name! Would rather kinder Fortune guide my Flame!
  • 1792    F. Reynolds Notoriety ɪɪ. 24,   I would rather he'd have can'd me than nobody.
  • 1850    Punch 18 197/2,   I would rather a good dinner than a bad one.
  • 1862    Mrs. H. Wood Channings II. xvii. 262,   I would rather a nurse broke one of my children's limbs, than thus poisoned its fair young mind.
  • 1939    P. Gallagher My Story 54,   I would rather her stories than my father's.
  • 1998    M. J. Lanning Delivering Profitable Value ii. 52   Some smokers would rather a cigarette associated with a tough, masculine, independent cowboy who lives with his horse, riding through the rain in the desert.

• f. In contracted form, I'd (also you'd, etc.) rather: I (you, etc.) would rather.

  In this form of the phrase, would and had are morphologically and semantically indistinguishable as the intended verb.

  • 1601    R. Yarington Two Lamentable Trag. sig. C2^v,   Ide rather choose to feede on carefulnesse‥Then condiscend to offer violence.
  • 1620    I. C. Two Merry Milke-maids ɪᴠ. i. sig. K3^v,   I'd rather you wud let it alone, vnlesse you had a finer handkercher.
  • 1685    H. Bold & W. Bold tr. in Latine Songs xix. 66   I'd rather both your eyes were out.
  • 1710    Don Francisco Sutorioso 17   [He] swore, She was so ugly, He'd rather with the Devil's Pug lye.
  • 1740    S. Richardson Pamela I. 158   Can'st thou not stab me to the Heart? I'd rather thou wouldst, than say such another Word!
  • 1796    F. Burney Camilla IV. ᴠɪɪɪ. x. 376   She thinks so well of my son, that I'd rather he'd have her than an empress.
  • 1825    J. K. Paulding John Bull in Amer. xᴠ. 263   I'd rather a man would cut off my head at once, than spit in my face.
  • 1855    E. C. Gaskell North & South II. iii. 32   I'd rather think yo' a fool than a knave. No offence, I hope, sir.
  • 1876    F. H. Moore Mistress Haselwode II. v. 88   I'd rather a steady fire; these quick flames do burn them out by sheer fury.
  • 1935    H. Heslop Last Cage Down ɪ. v. 51   We'd rather you settled amicably, if that's what you mean.
  • 1970    A. J. P. Taylor Let. 2 Nov. in Lett. to Eva (1991) 19   I'd rather sit down over a good meal than go to the theatre.
  • 2002    N. Roberts Face Fire xviii. 313   I'd rather a storm than rain. We haven't had enough storms this summer.

• g. rather you (also him, her, etc.) than me (and variants): ‘I'm glad it's you (him, her, etc.) and not me’ (used to express relief at not being in the situation of the person referred to). Cf. soon adv. 10b.

The correct citation for the entry is:

rather, adv.

Third edition, December 2008; online version December 2011. < http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/158456 >; accessed 17 February 2012. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary, 1903.

Answer 6

For at least some speakers, "rather" is used as a verb. There is a page about this phenomenon on the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project website: "Verbal rather", contributed by Jim Wood on March 27, 2013.

Wood mentions the use of the -ed suffix by some speakers, as in your "would have rathered" example, but also says there is earlier usage of rather as a verb without this suffix:

According to Klippenstein (2012), rather first began to be used as a verb without any verbal suffixes (such as -ed, -s, or -ing). The earliest attestation is from Richard Edwards’s “Of Fortunes power” (page 25) published in 1576, as shown in (2a). Another early attestation comes from a 1614 letter written to Lord Binning by George Sinclair, the 5th Earl of Caithness, which is shown in (2b):

2) a. I rather be borne Fortunate, then to be very wise. (1576)

b. I rather I had bene buried heir. (1614)

As discussed below, sentences like the ones in (2) are not acceptable for many speakers who use rather as a verb. (According to Wood (2013), web searches suggest that sentences like the ones in (2) may be acceptable for some speakers.) Verbal suffixes began to appear on rather in the 1890s.

Here are the citations for the references mentioned in the quotation:

• Klippenstein, Rachel. 2012. The Behavior-before-Coding Principle in morphosyntactic change: evidence from verbal rather. Extended Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America.

• Wood, Jim. 2013. Parasitic participles in the syntax of verbal rather. Lingua 137, 59-87.

The page contains an interactive map showing the acceptability of various sentences containing rather to speakers from different states of the USA.

Answer 7

Let's be clear: "rather" is not a verb nor should it be used as such in formal English. The correct word is "prefer."
I don't know why so many are confused on this question in a forum like this. (The origins of this error are from the formulation "I would rather have".)

Answer 8

I was wondering the exact same thing, as I seemed to remember having been taught "rather" as an adverb in school, too. The increased occurrences of "rather" being used as verb brought me to this Wiktionary entry (yeah, blame me for not having checked English.SE first):

rather (third-person singular simple present rathers, present participle rathering, simple 
past and past participle rathered)
(nonstandard or dialectal) To prefer; to prefer to. 

So according to this (and the according quotations) it seems to be possible to be used as a verb on its on, albeit nonstandard.

Answer 9

In these examples "rather" stands for "preferably, more readily or willingly". You are, of course, correct. However, in spoken English sometimes the "'d" is lost and many people make this mistake even when writing.

Answer 10

I'm a multilingual person from the Netherlands. I think the use of 'rather' as a verb is common in Britain. I certainly have heard the expression: "I rather you don't". I always thought that the word 'rather' was used like 'wish' but today I changed my mind.

Speaking 5 European languages has taught me that etymology is the basis for most meanings of words and that going back usually teaches you why a certain word is used in a particular context. This morning I decided to find the overall meaning of 'rather' (and that's how I found this page).

One of the explanations of the meaning of 'rather' is something like 'with ratio'. It means something like 'with thought' or 'after (some/any) thought' or 'I conclude'. Note that this meaning can be substituted for the word 'rather'.

It's a rather obvious thing. > If you think about it it is obvious.

I would rather have the green one. > After some thought I have the green one.

I rather you be there. > I have reasoned you (should) be there. (since you reasoned it you have made the best possible choice and that explains the urging undertones of this sentence).

I'd rather you be there. > (If you ask me,) I would reason that you (should) be there.

Note that British people often use 'rather' in a deliberate and slightly snobbish fashion. This can be linked to education in ye old days. If you can reason you had an education. If you had an education you had money or was in some other way an important person.

To me it seems perfectly clear that 'rather' has originally been used as a verb for reasoning. What often happens is that the original meaning gets obscured and a word becomes overspecialized as a particular grammatical construct(s).

Think of these two sentences:

I'd rather be at home.

I'd rather you (would) be at home.

Note that there is a missing 'I' in the first sentence. Note also that both sentences have a missing 'that'.

The fully written out sentences would be:

I would rather that I would be at home.

I would rather that you would be at home.

Et voila! 'rather' has become a verb! 'would' can be removed as it only signifies a condition, in this case the condition of having thought about it.

It's similar to the use of 'would' in: "I would say..." (If you asked me, I would say). It's a meta position that came from reasoning (you reason about yourself) and can be left out. Which makes 'rather' the verb.