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Advice and Suggestion
Advice and Suggestion
Advice and Suggestion
Giving Advice is any kind of suggestion regarding a possible course of action for another
person.
There are lots of different ways to give advice in English.
We are going to look at three:
1. Imperatives
An imperative is a command or an order. To form an imperative, you use the bare infinitive form
of the verb without a subject it should be clear to the person you are speaking to that the
imperative is about them.
For example:
- Wear warm clothes when you visit the UK.
- Dont be afraid to talk to people.
There are several different structures that you can use when giving advice :
# Should
This is probably the most common of the structures for giving advice. After should, and its
negative - shouldn't - we use the base form of the infinitive of the verb:
# Had better
This structure is common in spoken English and it is usually used in the contracted form. After
had better, and its negative - had better not, we use the base form of the infinitive of the verb
# Ought
This is the most formal of the structures used for giving advice, and so it isn't so common.
After ought, and its negative - ought not (oughtn't), we use the full infinitive of the verb:
# If I were you
This version of the second conditional is often used when giving advice, especially in spoken
English. Note the use of were with I in the first clause.
In the second clause, we use would - contracted to d - and wouldnt.
After would and wouldnt, we use the base form of the infinitive of the verb:
Example dialogue :
Mariona : Hi Cludia, You look worried. What's the matter?
Cludia : Er.. it's nothing.
Mariona : Is it the exam tomorrow? You shouldn't worry. You'll pass easily.
Cludia : I know.
Mariona : Come on, tell me. What are you worried about?
Cludia : OK... it's Mark. I think he has started smoking. I was talking to him yesterday about
this topic and he says me that isn't smoking.
Mariona : That's serious. What are you going to do?
Cludia : I'm not sure. I should tell someone. What do you think I should do?
Mariona : If I were you, I'd speak to his older sister. She's really friendly.
Cludia : I've never met her. Can you com with me?
Mariona : Yes, of course. Let's go and find her.
Example Picture :
You can use the following words and expressions in conversations to make suggestions and give advice
to people.
Suggestions
should
ought to
*All these expressions are followed by a verb, without to. For example: "He should visit the Eiffel Tower."
(Not "heshould to visit the Eiffel Tower.")
For more information on using would, ought and should, see our page on modals.
OR use a noun
"I recommend the lasagne." (It's a very good dish to choose in this restaurant.)
Advice
Remember the difference between the verb and the noun form of this word.
advise (verb)
advice (noun)
Speaking tip
Many people don't like getting advice if they haven't asked for it! To avoid giving the wrong impression,
you can try some of these expressions:
"Perhaps we could"
ought
should
could
must
ought
have
try
must
saving
saved
safe
save
make
must
making
made
Conversation 2
Aufa : I have looked for it for hours but I do not find it, do you have some ideas?
Tami : You had better tell the securities to announce it to other students.
Conversation 3
Tami : Aufa.., Do you have any idea about which one shold I buy for him ?
Aufa : Mmmm.., I suggest you to buy something like a football teams fan
merchandise .. Because usually a boy loved football, right ?