Had better

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Originally Posted by BobK

I think so, though maybe it's a regional variant (northern :?:) - anyway, it's quite widespread now (perhaps because of the BBC's decision to allow newsreaders and continuity announcers to keep their regional accents).

b

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What hath God wrought! :shock:

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Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

What hath God wrought! :shock:

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If only we had stuck to Morse code - no dialects in that (although I'm told a trained receiver can recognize different 'hands').

;-)

b

Why simplify when you can complicate it? That´s what ticks us !:)

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Originally Posted by BobK

Which question, Matilda? Tdol answered it, and his answer is unquestionably right: I had better study - no gerund, no 'to', a bare infinitive.
b

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what if we want to make it negative???

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Originally Posted by matilda

what if we want to make it negative???

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I'd better not. A lot of people - native speakers as well as English language learners - don't hear the "'d", so don't produce it. I better not is wrong, but very common.

b

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Originally Posted by BobK

I'd better not. A lot of people - native speakers as well as English language learners - don't hear the "'d", so don't produce it. I better not is wrong, but very common.
b

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No, it's not wrong, Bob. It's just a slightly different form. This occurs all the time in language. It's called phonological reduction.

Do you want to go?

D'you want to go?

D'ya wanna go?

Every ENL is fully aware that our language contains, "I had better"; "I'd better"; "I better".

Doens't make any sense a structure of the poll

One thing that has been missed in this discussion is that the convention of using "had better" or "had better not" carries with it a threat of violence or other negative consequences if the person is to not heed the advice given. NEVER use this convention when simply offering friendly advice, especially when speaking with Americans.

So, if it's five minutes before the banks shut and I tell someone that they'd better hurry if they want to deposit their cheque, it's unfriendly advice, is it? That would definitely not be the case in British English. You can use it as a threat or to offer advice in British English, and I am interested to see what other American speakers have to say about never using it in a friendly way.

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Originally Posted by riverkid

No, it's not wrong, Bob. It's just a slightly different form. This occurs all the time in language. It's called phonological reduction.

Do you want to go?

D'you want to go?

D'ya wanna go?

Every ENL is fully aware that our language contains, "I had better"; "I'd better"; "I better".

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That this is a reduction is clear; that it is correct is a matter of opinion. Most teachers I know would call it incorrect.