Page 432 - Basic Japanese

Notice that, for this meaning of ‘had better,’ the form in

front of hō is always perfect, regardless of the mood of the
final expression. If you use the imperfect mood, the

meaning is ‘it is better to,’ which has a slightly different
flavor:

Morau yori yaru hō ga ii desu.
It is better to give than to receive.

Watashi ga iku hō ga ii deshō.
It would be better for me to go (than for you to,

or than for me to stay).

Sensei ni naru hō ga ii desu.
It is better (for someone) to become a teacher.

8.14. … …sae

The particle sae ‘even, only, just’ is more strongly emphatic

than mo ‘even; also.’ It singles out a word or phrase for a
particularly acute focus of attention. Like mo, sae follows

nouns, nouns + the copula gerund (de), and infinitives.

Other particles may occur after the noun before sae or de
sae, but ga, o, and of course the focus-shifting wa do not

ordinarily occur. Here are examples of mo and sae after

nouns, nouns + de, and infinitives. After nouns, the
translation is often ‘just’; after infinitives, ‘only.’