What does this phrase mean?

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kartikshah: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 156; Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:03 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Location: New York, USA; Thanked: 34 times

by kartikshah » Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:28 am

I'm not a native speaker of English and I do not understand the phrase highlighted in the sentence below:

'In those cases, the losing candidates would have been well advised to have forgone early spending and have saved funds for TV advertisements late in their campaign.'

I came across another example of similar usage: 'He would have been well advised to outline more precisely.'

What does 'to have been well advised to..' mean in simple English?

Thanks

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Verbal Reasoning | Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:28 am

Kasia@EconomistGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 646; Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 amFollowed by: 143 members; Thanked: 322 times

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Tue Jul 17, 2012 1:19 am

Someone "would be well/better advised to do something" is a formal phrase used for saying what someone should definitely do.
e.g. He would be well advised to practise a bit harder before the next game.

The form "would have been well advised" indicates that the sentence is in the PAST.
would have + V3 is Future Past Perfect tense. It is used for example in 3rd Conditional.

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machichi: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 174; Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:57 pmFollowed by: 17 members; Location: San Francisco; Thanked: 35 times; GMAT Score:730

by machichi » Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:44 pm

Think of it as "It would have served him well". If he had gotten this advice, it would have served him to follow it. Since he wasn't necessarily given any advice, he would have been well advised to have acted differently. It's a formal sentence but it's not very direct.

For your second example I'd prefer something like: "He should have outlined XXX more precisely."

It also makes me think of the phrase "point well taken" which we say when something makes sense to us.

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