LLearn Japanese

“Should/shouldn’t” in Japanese?

So I’ve learned ば良かった and た方がいい but I can’t figure out what the difference is. They both mean “should/shouldn’t”, correct?

For example,
あんなに食べなければ良かったいいです。
あんなに食べなかった方がいいです。

What is the difference?

1 comment

  1. ばよかった means “should have”. You might be thinking of ばいい which could be translated as “should”.

    In that case ばいい is less direct and therefore more polite, since た方がいい more literally translates to “it would be better if”.

    [https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/68](https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/68)

    [https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/163](https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/163)

    [https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/195](https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/195)

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