Common Mistakes :  Had better/should

.BAD: You better make sure you’re not late again

.GOOD: You’d better make sure you’re not late again

.BAD: My friends warned me that I should better be careful

.GOOD: My friends warned me that I had better be careful

(had better (not

.If the phone rings again, you’d better answer it

.If it’s a secret, you’d better not tell me

.Note that had is usually shortened to d and sometimes may not be heard at all

.BAD: ‘You’d better to hurry up,’ she shouted

.GOOD: ‘You’d better hurry up,’ she shouted

(had better (not) do sth (NOT to do

.You’d better not leave all that money on the table

BAD: Instead of using a dictionary all the time, you had better try to guess the meaning of the words

GOOD: Instead of using a dictionary all the time, you should try to guess the meanings of the words

.BAD: If people want to be healthy, they had better be more careful about what they eat

.GOOD: If people want to be healthy, they should be more careful about what they eat

Had better is used in informal styles when you give someone strong advice about what to do in a particular situation. The situation usually exists at the moment of speaking and so there is usually a sense of urgency in the advice

.You’d better hurry or you’ll miss the bus

.You’d better ring your parents – just in case they’re worrying about you

To give advice on a general situation or to say that one course of action is better than another one, use should, ought to or it would be better to

.Parents should teach their children to be kind to animals

.Rather than complain and risk upsetting her, it would be better to say nothing

Better

adjective

.BAD: German cars are more expensive but they are more better

.GOOD: German cars are more expensive but they are better

good, better, best