83.John wants to see me today. I would rather he came to tomorrow than today.
约翰今天想来看我。我宁愿他明天来看我而不是今天。
首先这是would rather+从句（虚拟语气用法），要想搞懂，请看：
经典句型解析100之83：:would rather经典句型全解析
一、would rather意思是“宁愿、宁可、更、最好、还是为好”，后接动词原形,常省略为’d rather，表示优先选择的一种方式 其否定形式是would rather not do sth。would rather；没有人称和数的变化，所有的人称一律用would rather。
“would rather+动词原形”是英语中常见的一个惯用句式，美国英语中多用had rather。would (had)在此决无“过去”之意，它是一个情态助动词，且无词性、时态变化。 例：
I'd rather meet him here on my own home ground.
我宁愿在我自己的地盘上见他。
I'd rather come with you.
我倒愿意和你一起去。
I'd rather not talk about it in mixed company.
在男女混杂的场合，我不愿意谈论这件事。
Sorry. I'd rather not talk about it
抱歉，我不愿意谈论这个。
I'd rather not dwell on the past.
我不想再沉湎于过去了。
I'd rather not talk about it too much because I don't like giving trade secrets away.我不愿就此多谈，因为我不想泄露秘密。
If you’d rather be alone, we’ll all leave here.
如果你宁愿独自呆着，那我们都离开这儿。
rather than连接2个选项，取前者，而舍去后者：
Consumption rather than saving has become the central feature of contemporary societies.
现代社会的主要特征是消费而不是储蓄。
Europe has got used to following rather than leading the pack.
欧洲已经习惯了跟从，而不是领头儿。
These payments are denominated as 'fees' rather than 'salary'.
付出的这几笔款子称为“费用”而不是“工资”。
I think I'll have a cold drink rather than coffee.
我想要冷饮，不要咖啡。
说明rather than 可以连接两个名词充当主语或宾语。其他对等成分也是可以的：
Their problems were circumstantial rather than personal.
他们的困难是环境而非个人所致。
二、如果在两者中进行取舍，表示“宁愿……而不愿……，与其……宁可……”的意思时，则可用：
would rather…than…或would…rather than…的句型 例：
They would rather work than live on welfare.
他们宁愿工作而不愿靠社会保障金过活。
She'd rather die than give a speech.
她宁愿死也不愿意演讲。
Kids would rather play than study
孩子们宁愿玩也不愿学习。
They would rather take the line of least resistance than become involved in arguments.
他们倾向采用阻力最小的方案，不愿卷入纷争。
He would rather shoot himself than compromise his principles.
他宁愿一枪打死自己也不愿违背自己的原则。
I would rather invest time in Rebecca than in the kitchen.
我宁愿把时间花在丽贝卡身上也不愿花在厨房里。
He himself believed in freedom, so much so that he would rather die than live without it.
他非常崇尚自由，不自由，毋宁死。
He would rather be killed in a race than die a lingering death in hospital.
他宁肯在比赛中丢了性命也不愿在医院里苟延残喘。
He would rather shoot himself than compromise his principles.
他宁愿一枪打死自己也不愿违背自己的原则。
I would rather pay for a meal than watch nine friends pick over and split a bill
我宁可掏钱请客，也不愿看到9位朋友算来算去分摊账单。
I would rather stare at a clear, star-filled sky than a TV set
我宁可凝视繁星满天的晴朗夜空也不愿盯着电视机。
She would rather perjure herself than admit to her sins.
她宁愿在法庭上撒谎也不愿承认她的罪行。
He would rather die than be a convict.
他宁愿死也不愿当囚犯。
He would rather die than live in dishonour.
他宁死不愿忍辱偷生。
Liu Hulan would rather die than surrender before the enemy.
刘胡兰在敌人面前宁死不屈。
It would be better to transport the goods by rail rather than by road.
用铁路运送这批货物会比用公路好。
The children would walk there rather than take a bus.
孩子们宁愿步行去那里而不愿乘公共汽车。
请注意
1） would rather…than…/would…rather than…也可以颠倒为：rather than…would…。
Would(rather)和than后都接不带to的动词不定式，若选用的动词相同，那么than 后的动词可以省略。 例 ：
I would rather have noodles than rice.
我宁愿吃面条也不吃米饭。
He would rather drink wine than beer．
他喜欢喝红葡萄酒而不喜欢喝啤酒。
It would be better to transport the goods by rail rather than by road.
用铁路运送这批货物会比用公路好。
I'd rather see it at the pictures than on video anyway.
我本来就宁可去电影院看，而不是看录像。
I'd rather leave the business than work with such a nit.
我宁愿离开公司，也不愿和这样的笨蛋一起工作。
I'd rather economize on clothes than food.
我情愿节衣不愿缩食。
Rather than work in such bad condition, he would give up.
与其在这样差的条件下工作，他宁愿放弃。
2)使用would rather…than…句型时要注意“平行结构”，即在than 的前后要用两个同类的词或词组，如两个名词、两个不定式、两个介词短语等。 例 ：
It would be better to transport the goods by rail rather than by road.
用铁路运送这批货物会比用公路好。
I would rather go to work by bike than by bus.
我宁愿骑自行车也不愿乘公共汽车去上班。
I would rather talk with his mother than with his father.
我宁愿和他妈说话而不愿和他爸说话。
三、在疑问句式中，would rather 与would rather…than…中的would要放在主语之前 ，且than一般改为or,例 ：
Would you rather walk or take the bus?
你愿意步行还是坐公共汽车？
Would you rather stay here or go home?
你愿意呆在这里，还是回家？
Which would you rather have, apples or bananas? 你喜欢吃苹果还是香蕉？
Would you rather read a novel than read a poem?你宁愿看小说而不愿朗读诗歌吗？
四、would rather+从句，是一个常用的虚拟语气句型 Would rather+从句,谓语一般用过去时来表示现在或将来。其意为“宁愿……,还是…… 好些”“一个人宁愿另一个人做某事”。引导从句的that常省略。在谈到过去的动作时，谓语则用过去完成时。 例 ：
would rather that sb did宁愿、更愿意……（表示现在或将来的愿望）
would rather that sb had done宁愿、更愿意……（表示过去的愿望）
‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ ‘Well, I'd rather you didn't.’
“你介意我抽烟吗？”“嗯，最好别抽。”
I would rather Lionel took it on
我宁愿莱昂内尔负责这件事。
I'd rather you came with us.
我倒愿意你和我们一块儿去。
注意，如果后面动作是主语来完成，则直接用不带to的动词不定式来表示：
I'd rather come with you.
我倒愿意和你一起去。
I'd rather you posted the letter right now. 我想让你现在去寄信。
I'd rather that I hadn’t seen her yesterday. 我情愿昨天没有看到她。
John wants to see me today. I would rather he came to tomorrow than today.
约翰今天想来看我。我宁愿他明天来看我而不是今天。(句中came不是表示过去而是表示将来)
We’d rather he paid us the money tomorrow.
我们宁愿他明天付给我们那笔钱。
Don’t come tomorrow. I’d rather you came next weekend.
明天别来。我希望你下周末来。
请注意
1） 如果谈到过去的动作，也就是表示过去已经发生的事情在选择上不恰当。此时，主句一般为:would rather have (not) done
Did you criticize him for his mistakes?
Yes,but I’d rather not have done.
因为他的失误你批评了他吗？
是的，我批评了他，但是我宁愿我并没有那样做。
My wife bought the blue rug,but I would rather have bought the brown one.
我妻子买了蓝色的地毯，但我宁愿买棕色的。
I would rather have never been born than have seen this day of shame.
我宁愿从未出生，也不愿看到今天的耻辱。
I would rather ,其（that）从句则用过去完成时。 例：
Would rather you had not done that.
我真希望你没有做那件事。
2）如果只涉及主语本人而不涉及另一个人，则would rather之后不接that从句而接have done结构。 例
I would rather have gone to the theatre than stayed home night.
我真希望昨天晚上去看了戏而不是呆在家里。
He would rather be poor than have got money by dishonest methods．
他宁可穷也不愿意用不诚实的手段获取金钱。
Henry would rather that his girlfriend worked in the same department as he does．
亨利希望他的女朋友和他在一个部门工作。
五、would rather/sooner和prefer/would prefer的区别
would rather和would sooner之间一般没有区别，但经常接触到的是would rather。 例：
Tom would rather/sooner read than talk． 汤姆宁可读书而不愿谈天。
If I were a young man I would sooner go to prison than fight for this country
如果我是个年轻人，我宁愿进监狱也不愿为这个国家打仗。
I would sooner give up sleep than miss my evening class
我宁可不睡觉，也不愿错过晚上的课。
Ford vowed that he would sooner burn his factory to the ground than build a single vehicle for war purposes
福特郑重声明他宁可把自己的工厂付之一炬，也不愿意生产一辆用于战争的车辆。
以上3例摘自《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》
Tom prefers reading to talking．汤姆喜欢读书而不喜欢谈天。
请注意
1）would rather后跟不带to的不定式+than+不带 to的不定式，而prefer后跟动名词+to+动名词。有时prefer后面也可跟名词，而在would rather之后要求只带动词原形。 例 ：
He prefers wine to beer．= He would rather drink wine than beer．
他喜欢喝红葡萄酒而不喜欢喝啤酒。
I prefer tennis to golf．= I’d rather play tennis than golf．
我喜欢打网球而不喜欢打高尔夫球。
2）某些 prefer+名词的情况不能用 would rather完全确切地表达出来：
He prefers dogs to cats．他喜欢狗而不喜欢猫。
He would rather have dogs than cats．他宁可养狗而不愿养猫。
很明显，这两句的意思并不完全相同。
3） would rather+不带to的不定式有时可代替 would prefer+带 to的不定式。 例 ：
I’d rather fly than go by sea．=I’d prefer to fly． 我宁愿乘飞机也不愿乘船。
这两个结构后面带名词时情况也一样： 例
—Would you like some gin？
—I’d prefer a coffee．=I’d rather have coffee than gin．
—您想喝点杜松子酒吗？ —我想喝点咖啡。/我想喝点咖啡，不想喝杜松子酒。
4）would rather/sooner和would prefer后面都可跟完成式，但后者带to。 都表示过去未曾实现的愿望；本想做某事实际并未做
例 ：
We went by sea but I’d rather have gone by air=I’d prefer to have gone by air．
我们是乘船去的，可我本想乘飞机去。（我愿意乘飞机去，可我的愿望未能实现。）
这和 would like+不定式的完成式有点相似，would like+带to 的不定式的完成式也表示未能实现的愿望。
Susan bit back the words she would like to have said.
苏珊话到嘴边又咽了回去。
I would rather I had stayed at Tom’s,but he refused.
我来想是待在汤姆家的，但是他拒绝了我。
其实，would rather+主语+完成时态；would rather+主语+情态动词+完成时态，也是这个用法：
I would rather you could have come and helped me at that time.
我本想着你那时能来助我一臂之力。
5）would rather doA than doB
would prefer to doA rather than doB
都是舍去后者。如：
I would rather listen to others than talk myself.=
I would prefer to listen to others rather than talk myself.
我宁愿听别人说话，而不愿意自己说。