{"id":72305,"date":"2019-09-19T09:25:55","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T09:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=72305"},"modified":"2019-09-19T09:25:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T09:25:55","slug":"had-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/had-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Had Better"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
We use had better <\/b>to give strong advice, or to tell people what to do. After had better<\/b>, we use the infinitive without to.<\/p>\n
    \n
  • You had better consult <\/b>a doctor.<\/li>\n
  • It is late. I had better hurry up. <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Had better<\/b> may suggest a threat. It is not used in polite requests.<\/p>\n

    Compare:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Could <\/b>you lend <\/b>me some money? (request)<\/li>\n
    • You had better lend <\/b>me some money. (order\/threat)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Had better<\/b> refers to the immediate future, but the form used is always past. Have better is not possible.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Shall I go now? You had better. <\/b> (NOT You have better.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        We can put better<\/b> before had <\/b>for emphasis. This is common in British English.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • \u2018I promise I will pay you back.\u2019 \u2018You better had.\u2019 <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          We normally make the negative with had better not + infinitive. <\/b><\/p>\n

            \n
          • You had better not tell <\/b>him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            We use had better to give strong advice, or to tell people what to do. After had better, we use the infinitive without to. You had better consult a doctor. It is late. I...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[251],"tags":[1517,1310,1516],"class_list":["post-72305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar","tag-better-had","tag-had-better","tag-using-had-better"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72306,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72305\/revisions\/72306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}