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  • Hello.

  • My name is Emma, and in today's video I am going to teach you a very common and important

  • expression we use in English, and that expression is: "I'd better"; or in the negative form:

  • "I'd better not".

  • So we use this expression a lot.

  • But before I teach you how to use this expression, I'm going to give you an example to help you

  • understand when we use this expression.

  • Okay, so let's get started.

  • So I have here my friend Jack, and you'll notice Jack is a little confused.

  • He has a whole bunch of question marks around his head, because he's thinking.

  • So, what is Jack thinking about?

  • Well, Jack has a test at 8am, and he's nervous about his test, and so he's wondering: "What

  • should I do?"

  • That's what Jack is thinking.

  • So I want you to think about: What should Jack do in this situation?

  • He has a test at 8am.

  • Should he go to bed early?

  • Should he party all night?

  • Or should he watch TV all night?

  • What do you think?

  • And he really wants to do well on his test.

  • Well, hopefully, you know, you said the first one: Jack should go to bed early.

  • So this is when we would use the expression: "I'd better".

  • We would use it in this case.

  • And what does it mean?

  • We use: "I'd better" when we want to talk about something that's a good idea to do;

  • and if we don't do it, there might be a problem.

  • Okay?

  • So, for example: "I'd better go to bed early."

  • This is something Jack would say, because going to bed early is a good idea.

  • He has a test to study for...

  • Or, sorry.

  • He has a test the next day, so it's very important that he goes to bed early.

  • Okay?

  • So let's make this into an expression Jack can say.

  • "I'd better", and then we put the verb, which is the action or the good idea.

  • So, in Jack's case, Jack would say: "I'd better go to bed.

  • I'd better go to bed."

  • So, now let's look at more examples of the expression: "I'd better".

  • Okay, so you might be wondering: What does "I'd better" stand for?

  • If you actually break up the "I'd", because "I'd" is a contraction, it stands for: "I

  • had better".

  • But usually when we use: "I'd better", we don't usually use it with the word "had";

  • we usually use it in conversation with the contraction.

  • And so, the way we pronounce that is: "I'd better".

  • So let's look at some examples with this expression.

  • Okay, so I want you to imagine it's going to rain later today.

  • What's a good idea?

  • If it's going to rain, a good idea is to bring an umbrella.

  • So, we can use this expression to talk about this good idea.

  • "I'd better bring an umbrella today because it's going to rain."

  • Okay?

  • If I don't bring an umbrella, I'm going to get wet.

  • So this is a good idea; and if I don't do it, something bad is probably going to happen

  • - I'll get wet.

  • So let's look at another example.

  • "I'd better leave my house earlier because I don't want to be late."

  • So maybe there's a meeting or a job interview, and you're thinking: "Oh, I need to get to

  • work early", or: "I need to get to this job interview early."

  • That's a good idea.

  • A good idea is to leave my house early.

  • So, because we're talking about a good idea, we say: "I'd better leave my house earlier

  • than normal."

  • If I don't leave my house early, maybe there will be problems getting to the interview;

  • maybe I'll be late.

  • Okay?

  • So we often use "I'd better" when we're talking about a good idea; and if we don't do this

  • good idea, there can be a problem.

  • This is a very common thing you'll hear people say: "It's late", okay?

  • Meaning it's late at night.

  • You're at somebody's house: "It's late.

  • I'd better go."

  • Okay?

  • So, I think this is actually probably the most common way we use this expression.

  • You'll see it all the time in movies; somebody often says: "It's late.

  • I'd better go."

  • And then another example: "My friends are coming over."

  • Okay?

  • So, what's the good idea?

  • Your friends are coming over.

  • It's usually good to buy some food, maybe some drinks, so: "I'd better buy some food."

  • Okay?

  • So that's a good idea.

  • If I don't buy food, my friends will be hungry.

  • I just wanted to point out one thing.

  • You'll notice after: "I'd better", it's the same in each sentence: "I'd better", "I'd

  • better", "I'd better", "I'd better"...

  • What comes right after the word "I'd better"...?

  • Or, sorry.

  • The expression is the verb.

  • So, in this case, we have the verb "buy"; in this case, we have the verb "go"; we have

  • the verb "leave"; and we have the verb "bring".

  • So it's important that after you use the expression: "I'd better", a verb comes.

  • So now let's look at some examples of the expression: "I'd better not".

  • Okay, so we've talked about: "I'd better" do something; we can also say: "I'd better

  • not" do something.

  • Okay?

  • So: "I'd", which also means "I had", but we say: "I'd".

  • "I'd better not".

  • So, what does this mean?

  • If you say: "I'd better not", this means that not doing something is a good idea.

  • So let's look at some examples so you can understand this.

  • Okay.

  • So, remember we were talking about Jack earlier, and Jack was thinking about going to the party,

  • and he has a test at 8am?

  • Well, Jack said: "I'd better study..."

  • Or, no.

  • "I'd better go to sleep early."

  • He can also talk about things that he's not going to do.

  • So, he could say: "I'd better not go to the party.", "I'd better not watch TV all night.",

  • "I'd better not drink too much beer before the test."

  • Okay?

  • So these are things when not doing it is a good idea.

  • So, again, the only difference here is we've now added the word "not".

  • "I'd better not", and then underlined in blue we have the verb.

  • "I'd better not go to the party.

  • I have to study."

  • And if you do do something, there usually is a problem or a consequence.

  • So: "I'd better not go to the study..."

  • Or: "...to the party".

  • If I go to the party maybe I won't have time to study.

  • Let's look at another example.

  • "I'd better not forget my girlfriend's birthday again."

  • Okay?

  • So this means that not forgetting is a good idea.

  • You want to remember her birthday.

  • "I'd better not forget my girlfriend's birthday again."

  • If I forget my girlfriend's birthday, she's going to be angry.

  • Okay?

  • And it's not going to be pleasant.

  • Here's another example: "We'd", so this time I'm talking about not just myself, but a group

  • of people.

  • "We'd better not eat all the pizza."

  • Okay?

  • So imagine there's a box of pizza, and you know, I've already eaten maybe two slices

  • and I'm thinking: "Oh, maybe I should eat two more."

  • Well, if I do that, maybe my stomach will hurt; maybe it's not a good idea to eat all

  • the pizza.

  • So what I can say is: "I'd" or "We'd", if we're talking about a group.

  • "We'd better not eat all the pizza.

  • We should save some for later."

  • Okay?

  • So, we use this expression a lot, especially when we're talking about ourselves, as in:

  • "I'd better"; or when we're talking about groups of people: "We'd better".

  • We can also use this in another sense, and that's when we're talking about a threat or

  • a warning.

  • Okay?

  • So this is very important.

  • We've talked about when we use it with "I'd" or with "We'd".

  • What about when we use it with: "You'd better", or "She'd better", or "He'd better"?

  • That has a little bit of a different meaning, and this is very important.

  • When you say: "You'd better", it makes it sound like a threat.

  • So this is, for example, something your parents might say to you.

  • Your parents might say, you know, depending on your age: "You'd better finish your homework."

  • If you don't finish your homework, there's going to be a problem.

  • "You'd better be home at 10pm."

  • If you're not home, you're going to be in trouble.

  • You might also have a boss who uses this expression.

  • Okay?

  • "You'd better give me the paperwork on time."

  • Okay?

  • "If you don't give me the paperwork, you'll be fired."

  • So when we say: "You'd better", it's a very strong expression and it usually is a warning

  • or a threat.

  • Same with: "She'd" or "He'd".

  • "She'd better be on time, or I'll be mad.", "He better not be late again."

  • Okay?

  • So we usually use this to warn that there's going to be a problem if we...

  • If we don't do something.