'had better not entangle' v 'had better not to entangle'

Question

Can I write this sentence:

He said Carter had better not entangle the US in problems like those in Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

Like this:

He said Carter had better to not entangle the US in problems like those in Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

?

If so, what's the difference between the meaning of both sentence?

No, you cannot. In this context you use the 'bare infinitive' version of the verb, as in sentence 1, not the 'to infinitive', as in sentence 2, which is not grammatical. — , Nov 23 '15 at 16:11
See http://ell.stackexchange.com/a/4979/21503 and http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/31204/hadnt-better-had-better-not — , Nov 23 '15 at 16:17

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:11

4

You cannot rewrite as you suggest.

The expression had better works like the modal verbs can, may, must, shall, will—it always takes a bare infinitive as its complement, not an infinitive marked with to.

It may help you to think of had better as equivalent to should:

^okCarter should not entangle the US in problems.
^∗Carter should to not entangle the US in problems.

^okCarter had better not entangle the US in problems.
^∗Carter had better to not entangle the US in problems.

^∗*marks an ungrammatical utterance

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:11

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answered Nov 23 '15 at 16:09

StoneyB on hiatus

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I have no real problem with (You) would do* better to not (do something)*, though personally I'd normally negate it as You would do better not to* [do that]*. – FumbleFingers Nov 23 '15 at 18:25
@FumbleFingers That's a somewhat different idiom, though: it recommends a new strategy rather than deprecating a (implicit or explicit) proposed strategy. – StoneyB on hiatus Nov 23 '15 at 19:19
Apparently an 1897 issue of the Ohio Educational Monthly says many teachers found “had better” and other idioms “very difficult to dispose of grammatically.” On that same page it specifically says the *idiomatic phrase “had better” ... is a venerable usage with roots far back in Old English.* I can't argue with either of those points - *I'd better not*, in fact, since although I've been brought up on the usage, I can't for the life of me deconstruct the "syntax" (which was presumably straightforward at one time). – FumbleFingers Nov 23 '15 at 20:42

'had better not entangle' v 'had better not to entangle'

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