I continue to struggle with what used to be basic functions..
I'm in 8/4 (which might be the challenge) and cutting and pasting.  A measure or so before an audio clip I cut.  When I paste the-clip it lines up to the new paste location, but without the partial measure space before the clip.. the clip is at the new location without the space before... growl...  wasting too much time on this is there a switch that says ignore the space before an event when cutting?  If so I must have it set:-)
 

What if you pasted to the point where you actually want the clip? Don't try to cut and paste blank spots, cut the audio only then paste it to the precise location where you want the audio clip to start. The meter (8/4) shouldn't be an issue - especially if it remains constant in the cut-from and paste-to locations.

Yep, I think you're right Steve
 
"A measure or so before an audio clip I cut"
 
Problem is, you haven't cut anything, only blank space, which doesn't count.

Also it doesn't hurt to do a copy special and confirm that just "events in tracks" is checked. Copying meter changes etc. can be wonky. Incidentally if you are dead set on copying silence (for timing sake maybe) drag the edge of the clip to the point you want to copy from. It will merely add a silent section however since the silence is now a part of the clip it will copy along with the non silent parts. sometimes I will set snap to whole measure then drag the left edge of a clip to the nearest measure line in order to copy and paste to a similar section elsewhere in the song - then I can paste at a measure line and the material should line up.

Steve, good idea extending the clip forward.  Yeah for moving around large audio sections - did it always work this way?  I didn't think so.  But I've been in the midi track world not audio clip one for the past few couple of years.
-rich

No takers?  I still think it's F'd up.  I should be able to cut an audio track with leading "air" and paste it to another place.  No?  Isn't that how it used to work?
Lovingly yours,
-rich'

xxrich
No takers?  I still think it's F'd up.  I should be able to cut an audio track with leading "air" and paste it to another place.  No?  Isn't that how it used to work?
Lovingly yours,
-rich'

 No. You have never been able to copy blank "air". you can only copy stuff that exists i.e. clips. if there is blank "air" before the clip and you want this silence copied with the clip it is extremely easy. You just drag the edge of the clip to the point you want the air to start. Thus creating a silent portion IN THE CLIP ITSELF. Of course I already told you this but you don't want to learn something new and accomplish your goal you want to quibble about why it doesn't work the way you initially intuited it to work.
 My biggest learning curve with Sonar has been realizing that just because I am trying to do something one way and it doesn't work that way doesn't mean Sonar is at fault. While it may be more fun to be stubborn and try to force your methodology on a program that wasn't intended to work like you think it was, It is extremely more productive to learn how the program ACTUALLY WORKS!!!
 Heck, even if it DID work like you "remember" it. IT DOESN"T NOW! 

X3  (and possibly earlier versions of 2015/2016 SONAR) did in fact work that way; there have been a couple of threads about this. I'm not sure whether a report was ever entered and/or confirmed 'Submitted to Development'.
 
Personally, I never depended on it working that way so the change hasn't bothered me. I prefer to start the selection where I intend to start the paste. But I can see how certain workflows would be facilitated by not having to carefully define the starting point.

In earlier versions of Sonar, regardless whether an audio or MIDI clip was copied, if the notes or events started on the second beat of a measure, and you copied a clip to a new location by "measure", it would start playing on the second beat of the measure.  Now to accomplish this, you have to drag the clip to the starting point of a measure to get it to start playing where you want it to start.  This adds a step to the process, and I prefer the old way.  I may be missing something here, and I'm happy to be informed otherwise.

Go to Preferences-Customization-Editing-Non-destructive MIDI Editing.
If it's checked, uncheck it. 
 
That might solve your issue.
 
Also, be aware that I've experienced crashes when using a meter of 10/4 and a two-stave instrument, such as piano.
 
Jerry
www.jerrygerber.com