“You (had) better pay attention to what I am saying”…
Does the word “had” needs to be used in this sentence?
God Bless you all.
Cisco.
Hi Cisco
If someone were to say that with you without at least contracting the word “had”, then the person would be saying it much more emphatically than usual.
In informal conversation, people regularly omit the word “had” in that expression (i.e. “You better pay attention”). Sometimes you’ll hear the contracted form (i.e. “You’d better pay attention”).
In more formal English, you should not omit the word “had”.
.
Slip?
Yes, Molly. “If someone were to say that to you…”
Would you like me to start pointing out all of your typos? I mainly ignore all the typos you make, but I’d be happy to go back and pick them all out for you. There are lots of them. 
On second thought, I imagine you’d prefer to quietly review all of your posts and fix all those typos yourself.
.
It might be better than denying them. 
What comes around…, Amy.
Amy, I want to thank you once again for your kidness.
I was able to understand the difference in usage after reading your explanation to my thread. God Bless you.
Cisco.