| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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Page 32
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rather
| | would rather /
should rather
| | Which would you rather do—play professional baseball or sell used cars? In expressions of preference rather is commonly preceded by would: We would rather go to the lake than stay in town for the weekend. In formal style, you sometimes see should instead of would: I should rather my daughter attended a private school. | 1 |
| had rather
| | Sometimes had appears in these constructions, though this use of had seems to be growing less frequent: I had rather work with Williams than work for him. Language critics once condemned this use of had as a mistake. In truth the mistake was their own. They misunderstood sentences such as I’d rather stay, thinking the contraction was of would. But the contraction is a survival of the subjunctive form had that also appears in constructions like had better and had best, as in We had better leave now. This use of had goes back to Middle English and is perfectly acceptable. | 2 |
| rather a
| | Before an unmodified noun only rather a is used: It was rather a disaster. When the noun is preceded by an adjective, however, both rather a and a rather are found: It was rather a boring party. It was a rather boring party. When a rather is used in this construction, rather qualifies only the adjective, whereas with rather a it qualifies either the adjective or the entire noun phrase. Thus a rather long ordeal can mean only “an ordeal that is rather long,” whereas rather a long ordeal can also mean roughly “a long process that is something of an ordeal.” Rather a is the only possible choice when the adjective itself does not permit modification. Thus we say The horse was rather a long shot but not The horse was a rather long shot. | 3 |
| More at
had better and
should. | 4 |
scarcely
| | scarcely as negative adverb
| | Scarcely has the force of a negative and is therefore regarded as incorrectly used with another negative, as in I couldn’t scarcely believe it. For more on this problem, see
double negative and
hardly. | 5 |
| scarcely with a following clause
| | You should introduce a clause following scarcely with either when or before. The conjunction than is commonly used here, but such use is still considered unacceptable to some people. So you can say The meeting had scarcely begun when (or before) it was interrupted, but you should probably avoid saying The meeting had scarcely begun than it was interrupted. | 6 |
shall / will
| | the traditional rules
| | The traditional rules state that you use shall to show what happens in the future only when I or we is the subject: I shall (not will) call you tomorrow. We shall (not will) be sure to keep in touch. Will, on the other hand, is used with subjects in the second and third persons: The comet will (not shall) return in 87 years. You will (not shall) probably encounter some heavy seas when you round the point. However, you can use will with a subject in the first person and shall with a subject in the second or third person to express determination, promise, obligation, or permission, depending on the context. Thus I will leave tomorrow indicates that the speaker is determined to leave. You shall leave to | 7 |
| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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