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ほうがいい means:

the particular way "ほう" is "が" good "いい"

So, for example, if it looks like it's going to rain, I might say to a friend:

"今日は雨らしい。傘を持った方がいい。"

But what I'm curious is, why is "持った" past tense? It feels like it means, it
WOULD'VE BEEN good to carry an umbrella, so it feels quite inappropriate
tense-wise. I ask this question because there's no distinction between future
and present tense in Japanese. For example,

"明日来る人は私の友達です。" The dude coming tomorrow, is my friend.

"今、あそこから来る人は私の友達です。 That dude coming our way, is my friend.

So logically, I thought "take your umbrella" would be: "今日は雨らしい。傘を持つ方がいい。"

Instead of "今日は雨らしい。傘を持った方がいい。"

So, why is it that it's past tense?
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2015-05-21T06:49:06.810
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grammar syntax
In front of "ほうがいい," is it always past tense?
The suffix た does not automatically imply past tense.

In this free online dictionary, for instance, it lists **8** different
meanings /usages of 「た」.

<https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%9F-556028#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88>

Sure, you may not be able to read it, but it would at least give you a good
sign that you should forget about your preconception "た = past tense" for a
moment, would it not? 「た」 is important because it is complex.

Look at definition #6, for example. 「さあ、どんどん[歩]{ある}い **た** 、歩い **た** 」 is an
imperative meaning "Keep walking; Don't stop!". It is talking about the
present and even immediate future. That is not past tense at all. Not even
close to it.

Getting back to your question,

> 「(Verb phrase ending in た) + [方]{ほう}がいい」

is an extremely often-used expression that talks about the present and/or
future -- again not the past. This is not unique to Japanese at all. You would
say in English:

> "(If it indeed rains,) you will be glad you _**brought**_ an umbrella with
> you."

Or would you still ask "Why use the past-tense 'brought'?"?

In Japanese, it is just customary to use the た-form when giving advice and
making suggestions to others.

> 1.「傘を持って **いった** 方がいい。」
>
> 2.「傘を持って **いく** 方がいい。」

Both are actually correct sentences, but _**#1 would be heard much more
often**_.

Sentence #2 would sound like a stronger piece of advice than #1 to the native
ear.
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This 〜た is the perfect, not past; that is, it's indicating a time before some
reference time, rather than a time before speech time:

> 傘を持っていったほうがいい。  
>  Lit. "Having brought an umbrella would be better."

That said, I don't think native speakers actually have such a complicated
model (of comparing possible future worlds, one of which where you have
brought an umbrella), but rather 〜たほうがいい has just become a way of making
suggestions; that is, I think the 〜た has become mostly semantically bleached.
However, I'm pretty sure this was the original function of 〜た here.

* * *

It is also possible to have the plain form of verbs before 〜ほうがいい, but they
don't have a future interpretation but rather a "general" or "habitual" one.

> 傘を持っていくほうがいい。  
>  "Bringing an umbrella is best."

That is, you're not making a suggestion about something to do at a future
time, but making a more categorical statement.

I wish I had an explanation of _why_ it's impossible for the plain form to
have a future interpretation here, but I don't.
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