modality N5 essential casualpolitewritten
〜ないほうがいい — had better not ~
〜ないほうがいい ・ ないほうがいい
Builds on ない形
Meaning
- had better not ~ / it's better not to ~ / you shouldn't ~ — advice against doing something
Key sentence
無理をしないほうがいい。
You'd better not overdo it.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (ない-form — non-past) | V-ない + ほうがいい | 吸う → 吸わない → 吸わないほうがいい |
Examples
たばこは吸わないほうがいいよ。
You shouldn't smoke.
今日は寒いから、出かけないほうがいい。
It's cold today, so you'd better not go out.
そのことは誰にも言わないほうがいいです。
You'd better not tell anyone about that.
When you can't use it
- The negative side keeps the plain ない-form, not the past: 食べないほうがいい ('you'd better not eat it'), never ×食べなかったほうがいい. (Only the affirmative たほうがいい uses the past form.)
Easily confused with
〜たほうがいい The affirmative counterpart, 'had better ~'. Note the asymmetry: positive advice takes the past た-form (行ったほうがいい), negative advice takes the plain ない-form (行かないほうがいい). 〜てはいけない ないほうがいい is soft advice ('better not'); てはいけない is a firm prohibition ('must not'). One recommends, the other forbids.
See 〜ないほうがいい in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜ないほうがいい the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.