B1 · Can, must, want
Advising and recommending
«should» and «you’d better», with the same threat inside.
At a glance
- Remember
- ferais mieux de is «you’d better», threat included.
- Form
- je devraisI should
- Signal words
- devrais
- devriez
- vaut mieux
- ferais mieux
- aurais dû
- Trap
- Wrong:Il vaut mieux de partir maintenant.Right:Il vaut mieux partir maintenant.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb
| I should | je devrais |
| you should | tu devrais |
| he should | il devrait |
| we should | nous devrions |
| you should (polite) | vous devriez |
| they should | ils devraient |
| it is better | il vaut mieux |
| it would be better | il vaudrait mieux |
| you had better | tu ferais mieux de |
| I should have | j’aurais dû |
| you should have | tu aurais dû |
| he should have | il aurait dû |
| we should have | nous aurions dû |
| you should have (plural, polite) | vous auriez dû |
| they should have | ils auraient dû |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
devoir in the conditional is advice; in the present it is obligation.
Tu devrais te reposer.You should get some rest.
il vaut mieux takes the bare infinitive, with no de.
Il vaut mieux partir tôt.It is better to leave early.
tu ferais mieux de takes de before the infinitive.
Tu ferais mieux de te taire.You had better keep quiet.
aurais dû looks back and reproaches.
Tu aurais dû me prévenir.You should have warned me.
Example sentences
Vous devriez consulter un médecin.You should see a doctor.
Il vaut mieux réserver à l’avance.It is better to book in advance.
Tu ferais mieux de vérifier deux fois.You had better check twice.
On aurait dû prendre le train.We should have taken the train.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Il vaut mieux takes the infinitive directly and tu ferais mieux needs a de. English hides the difference, because «it's better to leave» and «you'd better leave» both have no preposition — «to» in the first belongs to the infinitive, not to «better». Two pieces of advice that sound alike and part company at this one point.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English «should» has no French verb of its own. It is devoir in the conditional: tu devrais — the same verb that carries the obligation, turned down.
Il vaut mieux is impersonal and therefore gentler: it says what would be better without addressing anybody, like «it's better to». Il vaudrait mieux is one step more cautious again.
Tu ferais mieux de is the sharpest of the three, and English has its twin: «you'd better». Both are advice with a threat folded into them — the speaker means that otherwise this ends badly — and both sound like a warning rather than a suggestion. It is worth noticing that the two languages built the same construction out of the same words, «do better».
For the past there is tu aurais dû, «you should have». That is a reproach, not advice, in both languages equally.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: devoir · avoir · faire · valoir · prendre · partir · avancer · vérifier