Quote:
Originally Posted by chryuop
I changed the title and I will use this thread for my questions...trying to take less space possible 
Today I got a question about 方がいい form. I had always known it uses the past informal tense when it is positive and present informal tense when negative. Now I happened to see it used differently...example:
Ａ：「ＸＸＸ」という言葉の意味は何ですか。
Ｂ1：日本語が話せません。私に聞かない方がいいです� �
Ｂ2：すみません、分かりません。Masaeguさんに聞いた方� ��いいです。
Ｂ3：すみません、分かりません。Masaeguさんに聞く方が� ��いです。
Now, while B1 says "you shouldn't ask me" and B2 means "you should ask Masaeguさん", I am not sure about the B3. The textbook where I met it translate the B3 as "we should ask Masaeguさん", but I am not sure that's the real difference. |
I would say that most native speakers used the two forms differently.
～～した方がいい is much more frequently used. You are giving advice regarding specific choices of action by saying "Doing A would be better than doing B." You are merely stating an opinion even if you are certain of what you are saying.
～～する方がいい is used to state facts, not opinions. "A will cost more than B; therefore do B.", "It takes more time to do A than B, so do B.", etc.
If you ever wonder which one to use, by all means use ～～した方がいい. It does no damage to make it an opinion in the first place in case you are proven wrong later on.