Japanese 273 - Giving advice: 方がいいです

To give advice to someone we can use the expression ほうがいいです, meaning had better or should do.

ほうがいいです is used at the end of the sentence, and it follows different tenses depending on whether the advice is in the affirmative or negative, i.e. had better or had better not.

When giving advice in the affirmative, ほうがいい follows a verb in the plain past tense.

It's also possible to use the present tense instead of the past tense before ほうがいいです, This sounds stronger and more direct.

For advice in the negative, use the verb in the plain present tense, never in the past tense.

ほうがいいです can also be written in hiragana rather than kanji as ほうがいいです, and in informal situations you can omit the final です.

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