Question

【英语】【翻译】谁能解释一下You had better...

【英语】【翻译】谁能解释一下You had better...为什么会翻译为“你最好”，为什么还用个过去时？

Answer 1

为您解答
这个是从古英语过来的，OED的词源学词典里解释的是
(a) In the idiomatic I,we,you,he, etc.had better, the original construction was me,us, etc.were betere(orbet) = it would be more advantageous for me

这个短语以前的形态是
宾格+were betere(orbet)

The dative pronoun was subsequently changed into the nominative,I,we,were better[…].
Finally, this was [abandoned] for the current I had better= I should have/hold it better, to do
随着语言的发展，宾格变化为主格，were betete形式变化为had better。

Answer 2

you had better not do something you had better do.something.