would rather/sooner + infinitive

This structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." can express preferences in the present.

I would rather not go to the opera tonight. (= I don’t want to go to the opera.)

Note that *I would not rather go... is not possible in this case.

If superlative adjectiveA part of speech that modifies, qualifies or restricts a noun or a pronoun. E.g.: The apples are ripe. ("ripe")s (especially the first, the last) are used, an infinitive structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." can replace a defining relative clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb..

Geoffrey was the last to understand the joke. (= Geoffrey was the last person who understood the joke.)

If we want to express an actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something in the passive voiceThe form of the transitive verb that shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice)., a passive infinitive is used:

ask, advise, allow, beg, command, encourage, forbid, instruct, invite, order, permit, persuade, prefer, recommend, remind, request, tell, urge, warn, want etc.

agree, claim, decide, demand, hope, offer, prefer, promise, refuse, threaten etc.

This structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." implies that the other person did not want to do something, but we managed to convince them.

Finally we got the mechanic to repair the elevator.
I couldn’t get her to understand the problem.

This structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." is not as strong as make + somebody + infinitive, its meaning is closer to ask + somebody + to + infinitive. The infinitive refers to one specific eventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head..

I'll have her copy the document.
The teacher had me stay after class to discuss my essay.

This structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." implies that the other person did not really want to do something but they were forced.

The teacher made Jack rewrite the composition.

When we transform this structure into the passive, we insert to between make and the infinitive.

If the reporting and the reported actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something happen at the same time, we use simple or continuousThe aspect expressing duration, formed with be + verb-ing. E.g.: What are you doing? infinitives.

This football coach is said to be strict but fair. (= They say this football coach is strict but fair.)

Everybody knows that my grandfather likes red wine.

In indirect speech, if we want to avoid the use of the general subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy")s everybody, they, people, one etc., we often use the passive voiceThe form of the transitive verb that shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice)., especially with reporting verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.s such as believe, know, say, think, assume, claim, consider, find, presume or report.

Modal auxiliariesA helping verb used with main verbs to express mood, voice and tense. E.g.: I can't stand when I am disturbed. ("can", "am") are followed by bare infinitives. Mind you, the infinitive is not the first form of the verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.. The first form of the verb is only one type of the infinitive (it is the simple infinitive).