Lesson 10 of 12
Intention Lab — the plan takes now, the advice takes yesterday
about 9 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Say what you intend to do, and what you intend not to do.
- Advise somebody, using the form that looks like the past and is not.
Words this lesson teaches
- つもり
- an intention — after a dictionary form or a plain negative
- ほうがいい
- had better — after a plain past, or a plain negative
- よてい
- a plan, a scheduled arrangement
- やめます
- stops doing, gives up on
- はやく
- early; quickly
- むり
- overdoing it; not feasible
What it explains
つもり is for your own plans only
つもり states an intention you hold, so it does not go on somebody else: 「かれは やめる つもりです」 claims to know his mind and sounds presumptuous. For another person use 〜と 思います or 〜そうです, both already taught. For a fixed arrangement rather than an intention — a booking, a shift, a timetable — use よてい: 「あしたは よていが あります」.
How strong ほうがいい actually is
In a textbook it is glossed had better, which in English is close to a warning. In use it is milder — closer to it would be better if — and it is the ordinary way to advise a friend or a colleague. What makes it firm is what follows: 「〜ほうが いいですよ」 with よ pushes, and 「〜ほうが いいと 思います」 softens it back down. Learn the frame, then choose the ending.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.