Dear Kevin:

I didn't mean to sound so defensive!  And, yes, I think you're right, that
when would is part of the verb the past does sound a bit more acceptable.
I do think, however, that it has the flavor of pastness that is
unintended--that perhaps it could be interpreted as

                I would have preferred that we waited a little longer,

where the event of waiting is past rather than future. I think that the
present tense version is unambiguous.

I checked Quirk's Comprehensive Grammar and can find no comparable
examples--i.e., in which the subjunctive that-clause is introduced with the
modal auxiliary.  Quirk et al. do say that the past subjunctive survives
only in the verb be; in fact, they call it the were-subjunctive.

As an editor, Kevin, I would choose the present.

Martha






>In response to Martha Kolln's message (which by the
>way I fully appreciate because I consult your book
>often) I think you are right to ask what verb form
>would appear in a declarative sentence. I hope I don't
>disappoint you, though, in saying that YES I would
>indeed be tempted to use the past in the subordinate
>clause, but NOT when the main verb is in the present
>tense.  The issue that I was trying to convey, and I
>apologize if I wasn't clear about this, was that there
>seems to be a difference between "would prefer" and
>other types of verbs that normally take the
>subjunctive.  So, if I add "would" to your sentence,
>I'm very comfortable with the past verb form in the
>subordinate clause.
>
>I would prefer that we waited a little longer.
>
>or
>
>I would prefer that we wait a little longer.
>
>But not
>
>*I prefer that we waited a little longer.
>
>You may also have misunderstood me when I wrote that I
>didn't find examples in your book. I looked carefully
>at your book to find an example of my first sentence
>with a past verb form, but I didn't find one.  You
>provide, of course, many examples of the subjunctive
>in that-clauses.
>
>Please let me clarify one more thing.  I wasn't asking
>these questions to find out what people considered the
>prescribed form.  I really wanted to know what people
>said.  I have to admit that my role as an editor
>sometimes conflicts with my training as a linguist.
>As an editor, I know what to do when I'm editing:
>pretend that linguistic variation doesn't exist. ;-)
>But as a linguist, it doesn't bother me when two
>different forms have the same function.
>
>Kevin Lemoine
>
>> 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
>
>
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