虚拟语气的特点是它的时态比真实时态要退一级,也就是现在时变成
一般过去时,一般过去时变成
过去完成时。比如条件句虚拟语气里, If you went to the meeting...
would rather是很神奇的结构,可能是英语里最大的bug。 rather本身并没有动词词性,但在would rather结构里, rather确实充当了动词的角色。
I would rather (that) you went to the meeting. 这里went是从句的
谓语动词,时态倒退一级表虚拟, 因为事实上你并没有去参加会议,只是我的"假设"--宁可/更希望你去参加会议。
如果要讨论已经发生的事情,对过去虚拟,条件句: If you had gone to the meeting...
rather也是一样的:I would rather you had gone to the meeting. 我更希望当时你去参加了会议。