60918
So, I was in hello talk writing about how eating ramen everyday might not be
healthy:

(I will number the sentences)

> 1 - ...だから、時々ラーメンを食べたほうがいいね

Then, a native speaker corrected my sentence to:

> 2 - だから、たまにラーメンを食べるほうがいいね

**Someone told me in the past that in order to say "I should..." I had to use
the pattern 「た+ほうがいい」 is it wrong?**

@Goldbrick also helped me in the chat saying that he'd rather say something
like:

> 3 - だからラーメンを食べるのは時どきだけにしたほうがいい

or

> 4 - だからラーメンは時どき食べるぐらいにしたほうがいい

He, this time used the したほうがいい pattern instead of するほうがいい. But he couldn't
exactly explain why's that...

**So when should I use するほうがいい and したほうがいい to mean should?**

Thanks in advance!
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-16T14:25:41.133
60907
2018-08-17T06:01:20.260
16104
question
grammar tense
When to use　するほうがいい instead of したほうがいい in order to mean "Should do"?
You were trying to say you shouldn't eat ramen too frequently, right? Then
時々食べたほうがいい is wrong because it recommends to eat ramen to some extent than
nothing.

**Adverbs don't determine polarity of a sentence in Japanese** unlike English.
e.g ほとんど殺した means "killed almost everyone", not "almost killed".

In addition, したほうがいい is an advice for a specific or an actual problem. た form
represents that something is concrete. When you are fishing and find some
shape, you say いる いる… then, once you confirm it as a fish, you say いた. そういうこと
means things **like** that while そういったこと means things **including** that.
That's how they are different.

In this regard, たまに食べるほうがいい is a little better, if not enough, because it's a
criteria for a general problem apart from if you actually do or not.

時々だけにしたほうがいい and 時々食べるくらいにしたほうがいい are fine because either part before したほうがいい
stands for refraining from eating too much and したほうがいい recommends to carry out
that.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-17T02:20:55.320
60918
2018-08-17T02:20:55.320
4092
60907
answer
FIrstly, するほうがいい and したほうがいい are the same basically, but strictly they are
different.

We tend to choose するほうがいい when we talk about the generic ideas. For example,
we can say "身体にいいものを食べるほうがいい" to tell a generic idea.

Suppose you have a friend who eats junk foods every day and never eat
vegetables. You are worrying about him/her. You can say "身体にいいものを食べたほうがいい". We
tend to choose したほうがいい when you talk about the specific issue.

Secondly, I'd like to mention your sentences, #1 and #2. ほうがいい is used when
you compare (A) with (B) and (A) is better.

In the case of your sentences, you compare (A) eating ramen sometimes with (B)
not eating ramen sometimes and say (A) is better. So, the sentences #1 and #2
sound you encourage your friend to eat ramen.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-17T06:01:20.260
60924
2018-08-17T06:01:20.260
30991
60907
answer