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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Had better be

Hi,

Suppose someone asks: is it true? You reply: after what I've been through, it had better be!

Now is this the way it is written because it is subjunctive?
  

Top answer

No. ' 'Had better' is an idiomatic verbal akin to 'ought to'.

— Mister Micawber

  • No.
  • ' 'Had better' is an idiomatic verbal akin to 'ought to'.
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3 Answers
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No. 'Be' is a verb with an understood complement: 'it had better be true.' 'Had better' is an idiomatic verbal akin to 'ought to'.
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Thanks. Can you tell me why it is 'had better' instead of just better? If it concerns the future, why the word had?
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I can't tell you; it is an idiom.
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