Hi Kevin:

On page 68 of Kolln & Funk, we do discuss the use of the subjunctive in
that-clauses after verbs tht convey a strong suggestion or recommendation:
suggest, insist, recommend.  (e.g., We suggested that Mary go with us.)

I think that the verb prefer works the same way, and I suspect that if your
questions were turned into statements, you might not have a question about
it:

        I prefer that we wait a little longer.

I don't think you'd be tempted to use the past here, would you?

Happy editing,

Martha Kolln







>Hi all.
>
>Forgive me for interrupting the very lively discussion
>about the fate of grammar teaching, but I have a
>question about the form of a verb in a that-clause
>following the verb "prefer" (and others like it).
>Which of the two verbs do you prefer (!):
>
>(1) Would you prefer that we wait a little longer?
>
>(2) Would you prefer that we waited a little longer?
>
>I know that verbs of preference and verbs that express
>a suggestion or a recommendation, among others,
>typically require the base (or subjunctive) form of
>the verb in the subordinate clause.  Examples like (1)
>abound in reference books.  On the other hand, I've
>looked for examples like (2) in Quirk et al., in Kolln
>& Funk, and in other sources, but I couln't find any.
>
>Notice that by changing the auxiliary/modal in the
>main clause you get different acceptability results
>(or at least that's my intuition):
>
>(3) Do you prefer that we wait a little longer?
>
>(4) ??Do you prefer that we waited a little longer?
>
>
>(4) seems odd to me (but I'm not certain), whereas (3)
>seems perfectly OK.  If the acceptability results are
>accurate, then it appears that it's the conditional in
>(1) that triggers either form. The auxiliary in (3)
>and (4) disallows this type of variation.
>
>Personally, I think that both (1) and (2) are used in
>American English.  I don't think this is a dialectal
>difference within North America, but I may be wrong
>(I'm from Louisiana originally, where the Cajun
>influence is strong).
>
>I'd like to know what others think.  If anyone could
>refer me to some sources that cover this topic, I
>would greatly appreciate it.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Kevin Lemoine, Editor
>Ph.D. in Romance Linguistics
>
>
>
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