Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
ほうがいい

ほうがいい

ほうがいい Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: X had better do Y

Construction: 

  • Verb informal past + ほうがいい
    • E.g. 話はなしたほうがいい [X had better speak]
    • E.g. 食たべたほうがいい [X had better eat]

Notes:

  • ほうがいい expresses the idea that it is strongly suggested that someone do something (e.g. “You had better study harder” or “Matt had better eat his vegetables“). ほうがいい represents a strong suggestion rather than a command.
  • When the speaker gives a strong suggestion to a second person subject (e.g. “You had better do X.”) the subject is typically omitted. The subject is also generally omitted if the sentence is interrogative and the subject is the first person (e.g. “Is it better if I did X?“). When the subject is a third person (e.g. “John had better do X.“), the subject is usually not omitted.
    • E.g. First Person Subject: もう帰かえったほうがいいですか。[Had I better go home now?]
    • E.g. Second Person Subject: 野菜やさいも食たべたほうがいいよ。[You’d better eat vegetables too.]
    • E.g. Third Person Subject: クリスはもっと英語えいごを勉強べんきょうしたほうがいいね。[Chris had better study English harder.]
  • Verb informal nonpast (i.e. するほうがいい) can be used instead of verb informal past (i.e. したほうがいい) to convey a weaker suggestion.
    • E.g. 日本語にほんごの本ほんを読よむほうがいい。[You should read a Japanese book.]
  • To convey a negative suggestion (e.g. “You’d better not do X”), ないほうがいい can be used. In this case, the verb must be in the nonpast tense.
    • E.g. コーヒーを飲のまないほうがいい。[You’d better not drink coffee.]
    • E.g. *コーヒーを飲のまなかったほうがいい。[It would’ve been better if you hadn’t drunk coffee.] This sentence is ungrammatical because ほうがいい cannot be used with a negative past predicate.

Example Sentences:

もう帰かえったほうがいいですか。[Had I better go home now?]

野菜やさいも食たべたほうがいいよ。[You’d better eat vegetables too.]

クリスはもっと英語えいごを勉強べんきょうしたほうがいいね。[Chris had better study English harder.]

日本語にほんごの本ほんを読よんだほうがいい。[You’d better read Japanese books.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line from 0:24: 「ありがとう」っていう気持きもちと、「ごめんなさい」っていう気持きもちはちゃんと伝つたえたほうがいいよね、正直しょうじきになれるかな [We had better express feelings such as “thank you” and “sorry”, we can become honest]
Listen to this line from 0:30: 勉強べんきょうはしないよりもしておいたほうがいいわ [Rather than not studying, you had better study.]

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