I'm not sure what the context of your sentence is, but 'went' is correct. This looks like a past tense, but actually it's a subjunctive. We use subjunctives to refer to unreal or hypothetical situations, and in conditionals - such as 'If were rich, I'd...' Here are some similar sentences to your example: I'd rather you told me the truth. = I think you are lying to me. I'd rather they left me alone. = I'm annoyed that they're bothering me. I'd rather we went somewhere quieter. = I think this place is too noisy. I'd rather you didn't spend that money = I want you to keep the money

Yes you are correct! BUT THIS IS a very tricky question. It's one of those things that you could use both ways , either past or present depending on a speaker's preference. What the perfect grammar explanation is I don't know. You are going to the US in two months . I would rather you CONCENTRATE on speaking English rather than wasting time on writing. You are going to the US in two months . I would rather you CONCENTRATED on speaking English rather than wasting time on writing. You are going to the US in two months . I would rather see you CONCENTRATING on speaking English rather than wasting time on writing. +I would rather you take a lower paying job for some income. I'd rather you not sit around the house all day. For me this is very hard to explain clearly , sorry.

Hi Gabrielle, We use "would rather" OR "would rather....... than......" to indicate a preference that one has. The verb that comes after "would rather" is in the simple present tense. Example: I would rather stay (simple present tense) at home. When we use "would rather" to prescribe some advice to others, we use simple past tense. Example: You don't have to be in such a hurry. I would rather you WENT ABOUT (simple past tense) your business first. (*On a separate note, the sentence sounds very unnatural, as we do not usually advise others to "go on business first". We would advise others to "go about their business first".) *********************** Just as a side discussion, we can also use "would rather" with "than" to indicate the order of our preference. For example, John likes jogging, but he likes swimming even more. We can write: John would rather swim (simple present tense) than jog (simple present tense). The more preferred activity is written before the word "than" while the less preferred activity is written after the word "than". Take note that both verbs are, again, written in simple present tense. Hope this helps. Cheers, Lance