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英文疑难详解 157．had better， would better; had rather， would rather
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英文中有 had better， would better； had rather， would rather 的说法，不知有何不同，请细为辨别详加解释。
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【解答】had better，had rather，意为“最好…”，或“还是…的好”，用于劝解或间接命令，而 had rather，would rather 则用以表示偏爱、嗜好。例如：
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You had better go home at once.（你最好马上回家去。）
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I would rather eat than dance.（我宁吃不舞。）
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这都是英文的惯用语，后面接用无 to 的不定词。
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Krapp 认为 would better 是不正确的（incorrect），因为把 You had better 省略为 You’d better 时，世人不察，以为 You’d 是 You would 之略，故产生 would better 的说法。其实任何一国的语言中，都有以讹传讹的惯用字句，只要用惯了，不通的也通了。美国人更干脆，索性说成 You better，不管它 had 也好，would 也好，一笔钩消，痛快是痛快，只可惜对于文法更讲不通了。
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至于 had rather 和 would rather，到底哪一个形式是正确的，就更难说了，通例都是说 I’d rather，正好像人们不知道应该是说 I shall 或 I will 的时候就说 I’ll 一样，根本说的省字，被看作 had 既可以，被看作 would 也可以，所以 Mc Mordie 认为孰是孰非，莫衷一是。 Krapp 则认为常用 had rather 取代 would rather，也是主张 had 为正的。 Abbott 和 Bain 等人，确认 had better，had rather 是几百年来许多大作家都用了的惯用句。有人比 Krapp 更激烈，认为 I would better go.是绝对不合文法的（positively ungrammatical）。因为 had better=would find it wiser （或 better） to.所以 You had better go home.就被说成 You would （find it） better （to） go home.了，是由假定说法而使得 had 变成 would 的。大家都说 had better 的形成比 would better 要更受欢迎（preferable），对于第一人称尤其不喜欢（undesirable）用 would better。现举几个例子来看：
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You had better go. （= You would do better to go.）
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You had better go back——the risk is great.—— Thomas Hardy
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The boys had better cease shouting.—— Mc Mordie
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When he proposed to fly across the Atlantic， I said “ You had better not try!”—— Kirkpatrick
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You had better not take away any wine， because it would disagree with you.—— Kruger
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这个 had better 有时可以说成 had best，不过没有前者的普通（far less common）。例如：
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I’d best go and settle the score.—— Thackerary
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I had best start for home.
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又 had better 还有一种过去形，不过不大用。例如： You had better do it.的过去形，即是 You had better have done it.而 It had better be done.的过去形，即是 It had better have been done. 在 Crowell 的 Dictionary of English Grammar 中举有 You had better stayed here （= You would have done better to stay here）.一例，其实那是应该视为 It would have been better （for you）， if you had stayed here.——一个条件句的省略说法。英国诗人 Tennyson 的诗句： Hadst thou been braver， I had better braved all.中的 I had better have braved all.也属于这一类。据 Modern English Usage 的著者 Fowler 说，这种过去形当中的 have（即 had better have done 及 had better have been done）是不可以省略的，可是英美人却常要犯这种错误。为什么不能省呢？例如 would have taken.被省为 would taken 一样，其理自明，毋庸多说。
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再看下例更可证明 would rather 或 had better 后接的过去动词是另一个条件句的省略的说法：
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Unfortunately， many a foreigner gets the distinct impression that the U. S. would rather he stayed home.（不幸的是许多外国人都得到一个明确的印象：美国并不怎样欢迎他们去观光。）
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这是1960年12月19日美国出版的 Time 上的句子，句中用了 would rather he stayed home 的字样，即是一反平常在 would rather 后接原形动词，如 I would rather stay home.的说法，其实这只是条件句的省略，这个 stayed 即等于说 if he stayed home.他例如：
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I would rather I went.（我宁去。）
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这种假设语气也可以用在现在动词的后面，如：
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It’s time I went.（我要走了。）
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在 had better 或 had best 的后面，现代英文规定要接没有 to 的不定词，但在 Older English 中这个不定词的 to 还保存着，例如 Richardson 就写过这样的句子：
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