had better 1    meaning We use had better to give strong advice, or to tell people what to do (including ourselves). You'd better turn that music down before your Dad gets angry. It's seven o'clock. I'd better put the meat in the oven. Had better may suggest a threat. It is not used in polite requests. Compare: Could you help me, if you've got time? (request) You'dbetter help me. If you don't, there'll be trouble, (order/threat) Had better refers to the immediate future. It is more urgent than should or ought. Compare:   I really ought to go and see Fred one of these days.' 'Well, you'd better do it soon - he's leaving for South Africa at the end of the month.' Note that had better does not usually suggest that the action recommended would be better than another one that is being considered - there is no idea of comparison. The structure means 'It would be good to ...', not 'It would be better to ...'.                                                2    forms Had better refers to the immediate future, but the form is always past {have better is impossible). After had better we use the infinitive without to. It's late -you had better hurry up. (not .. .you have bettor...) (not You had better hurrying/ to hurry...) In British English, better can come before had for emphasis. '1 promise I'll pay you back.' 'You better had.' We normally make the negative with had better not + infinitive. You'd better not wake me up when you come in. [You hadn't better wake me... is possible but very unusual.) A negative interrogative form Hadn't... better... ? is possible. Hadn't we better tell him the truth? Normal unemphatic short answer forms are as follows: 'Shall I put my clothes away?' 'You'd better!' 'He says he won't tell anybody.' 'He'd better not' Had is sometimes dropped in very informal speech. You better go now. I better try again later. happen Happen can be used with a following infinitive to suggest that something happens unexpectedly or by chance. If you happen to see Joan, ask her to phone me. One day I happened to get talking to a woman on a train, and she turned out to be a cousin of my mother's. In sentences with if, the idea of by chance can be emphasised by using should before happen. Let me know if you should happen to need any help. hardly, scarcely and no sooner These three expressions can be used (often with a past perfect tense) to suggest that one thing happened very soon after another. Note the sentence structure: ... hardly... when/before... ... scarcely... when/before... ...no sooner... than... I had hardly/scarcely closed my eyes when the phone rang. She was hardly I scarcely inside the house before the kids started screaming. I had no sooner closed the door than somebody knocked. We no sooner sat down in the train than I felt sick. In a formal or literary style, these structures are sometimes used with inverted word order. Hardly had I closed my eyes when I began to imagine the most fantastic shapes. No sooner had she agreed to marry him than she started to have terrible doubts. No sooner did Steve start going out with Tracy than she fell in love with Jasper. hear and listen (to) 1    hear: meaning Hear is the ordinary word to say that something 'comes to our ears'. Suddenly I heard a strange noise. (not Suddenly I listened to a strange noised] Can you hear me? 2    listen (to): meaning Listen (to) is used to talk about paying attention to sounds that are going on, in progress. It emphasises the idea of concentrating, trying to hear as well as  possible. You can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something deliberately. Compare: / heard them talking in the next room, but I didn't really listen to what they were saying. 'Listen very carefully, please.' 'Could you speak a bit louder? I can't hear you very well' I didn't hear the phone because I was listening to the radio. 3    complete experiences: hear Note that listen (to) is mostly used to talk about experiences that are going on, in progress. To talk about experiencing the whole of a performance, speech, piece of music, broadcast etc, we generally use hear. Compare: -    When she arrived, I was listening to a record ofBrendel playing Beethoven. (not .. .J-was-kearing...) I once heard Brendel play all the Beethoven concertos. (not / once listened to Brendel play...) -    / wish I had more time to listen to the radio, (not .. .-te4teaMhe-Fadiei) Did you hear/listen to the news yesterday? 4    hear not used in progressive forms Hear is not usually used in progressive forms. To say that one hears something at the moment of speaking, can hear is often used, especially in British English. lean hear somebody coming, (not I am hearing...) 5    listen and listen to When there is no object, listen is used without to. Compare: Listen1, (not Listen-to!) Listen to me! (not Osten-me!) hear, see etc + object + verb form 1    object + infinitive or -ing form Hear, see, watch, notice and similar verbs of perception can be followed by object + infinitive (without to) or object + -ing form. / heard him go down the stairs. I heard him going down the stairs. (not 44wafdrMmr-umnPdewn4he^ta4rsr) There is often a difference of meaning. We use an infinitive after these verbs to say that we hear or see the whole of an action or event, and we use an -ing form to suggest that we hear or see an action or event in progress, going on. Compare: -    I saw her cross the road. {= As I looked, she crossed it from one side to the other.) I saw her crossing the road. (= As I looked, she was crossing it - she was in the middle, on her way across.) -    I once heard him give a talk on Japanese politics. As I walked past his room I heard him talking on the phone. -    Watch me jump over the stream. I like to watch people walking in the street. -    I heard the bomb explode, (not I heard the bomb exploding) I saw the book lying on the table, (not I saw the book lie...) A progressive form can suggest repetition. / saw her throwing stones at the other children. After can see/hear (which refer to actions and events that are in progress, only the -ing structure is used. I could see John getting on the bus. (not I could see John get...) These structures can be used after passive forms of hear and see. In this case, the infinitive has to. He was never heard to say 'thankyou' in his life. (not He was never heard say...) Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done. She was seen walking away from the accident. Passive forms of watch and notice are not used in this way. 2    possessives not used After these verbs, possessives cannot be used with -ing forms. I saw Mary crossing the road, (not I saw Mary's crossing the road.) 3    object + past participle In this structure, the past participle has a passive meaning. / heard my name repeated several times. (= My name was repeated.) Have you ever seen a television thrown through a window? The idea of 'action or event in progress' can be given by a progressive form (being + past participle). As / watched the tree being cut down... I woke up to hear the bedroom door being opened slowly. These structures are not possible after passive forms of hear and see. 5    look at Look at can be followed by object + -ing form, and in American English also by object + infinitive. Look at him eating! Look at him eat! (US) hear, see etc with that-clause The present-tense forms I hear (that) ... and I see (that)... are often used to introduce pieces of news which one has heard, read or seen on television. / hear (that)