Colloquial solution to 方がいい？

[Rei Yahya]

僕達はここで休む方がいい。We had better rest here.
お仕事を辞めふ方がいい。you ought to quit your job.
試験を合格したかったら、あの教科書を勉強する方がい い。if you want to pass the exam, you had better study that book.

In the case of hou ga ii, it strikes me as something that would have a colloquial contraction or form. I have heard a lot of Japanese but hou ga ii is something I rarely hear which makes me think that there may be an alternate way of saying it.

 

[Mike Cash]

The verb before 方 is typically past tense.

 

[Rei Yahya]

Ahh, thank you. Is there any difference between 'yameru hou ga ii' and 'yameta hou ga ii', or is plain past tense just the more common of the two? In that case, to make a statement past tense, would you do this?

お前は晩餐に行った方がいい。You ought to go to dinner.
お前は晩餐に行った方がよかった。You ought to have gone to dinner.

 

[Mike Cash]

Past would be 行けばよかった and would be an observation, not a suggestion.

 

[Rei Yahya]

Past would be 行けばよかった and would be an observation, not a suggestion.

Ahh, I remember that one. How would you make it a suggestion in that case?

 

[Mike Cash]

Past tense is beyond the point of making a suggestion, don't you think?

 

[Rei Yahya]

Past tense is beyond the point of making a suggestion, don't you think?

Good point. Forgive me, sometimes I try to be too thorough.

 

[Toritoribe]

お仕事を辞めふ方がいい。

お仕事を辞めた方がいい sounds odd. お仕事 is an honorific, whereas 辞めた方がいい could sound rude for the person to whom you have to use honorifics. It should be お仕事をお辞めになってはいかがですか？ or 仕事を辞めた方がいいよ.

試験を合格したかったら、

試験に合格したかったら

I have heard a lot of Japanese but hou ga ii is something I rarely hear which makes me think that there may be an alternate way of saying it.

That's just because you actually haven't heard a lot of Japanese.;-) ～たほうがいい (and its variations ～たほうがいいんじゃない？, ～たほうがよくない？ or like that) is quite commonly used also in colloquial conversation.

Is there any difference between 'yameru hou ga ii' and 'yameta hou ga ii', or is plain past tense just the more common of the two?

It's said that "the present tense + ほうがいい" usually has a nuance of "generally speaking" and is hardly used for advice to the addressee.

健康のためには、野菜を毎日食べるほうがいい。 (generally speaking)
健康になりたかったら、野菜を毎日食べたほうがいいよ。(giving advice to the addressee)

お前は晩餐に行った方がよかった。You ought to have gone to dinner.

～たほうがよかった/～ばよかった/～たらよかった expresses regret just like "should have done" in English.

ディナーに行けばよかった
I should have gone to the dinner.

 

[Rei Yahya]

Thanks Toritoribe! That helped a lot!