GIVING ADVICE & SUGGESTING IDEAS

Some useful and common expressions to give advice and / or suggest ideas are:

● Shall we + bare infinitive ? à Shall we go to cinema? (¿Vamos al cine?)

● We could try + s.th. à We could try that restaurant (Podríamos probar ese restaurante)

● We could try + gerund à We could try learning salsa dancing (Podríamos probar a
aprender salsa)

● How about + s.th. ? à How about a picnic in the park this weekend? (¿Qué tal un picnic
en el parque este fin de semana?)

● How about doing + s.th.? à How about eating out tonight? (¿Qué tal cenar fuera esta
noche?)

● Why don’t we + bare infinitive ? à Why don’t we go on holiday? (¿Por qué no vamos de
vacaciones?)

● Let’s + bare infinitive à Let’s go on holiday! (¡Vayamos de vacaciones!)

● It could be a good idea + purpose infinitive à It could be a good idea to go on holiday

(Podría ser buena idea ir de vacaciones)

● You could + bare infinitive à You could go for a walk (Podrías ir a pasear)

● What if + sentence ? à What if we learn a new language? (¿Y si aprendemos un nuevo

idioma?)

● Why don’t you + bare infinitive ? à Why don’t you go for a walk? (¿Por qué no vas a
pasear?)

● (A person / a thing) suggests + gerund à Rafa suggests visiting the local museum (Rafa
propone visitar el museo municipal)

● (A person / a thing) recommends + gerund à Rafa recommends visiting the local

museum (Rafa recomienda visitar el museo municipal)

● Wouldn’t it be better + purpose infinitive ? à Wouldn’t it be better to travel by plane?

(¿No sería major viajar en avión?)

● Have you tried + gerund ? à Have you tried doing yoga? (¿Has probado a hacer yoga)
● Have you thought about + s.th.? à Have you thought about a road trip? (¿Has pensado
en hacer un viaje en coche?)

● Have you thought about + gerund ? à Have you thought about taking up guitar lessons?
(¿Has pensado en apuntarte a clases de guitarra?)

● If I were you, + would + bare infinitive à If I were you, I would adopt a pet (Si yo fuera
tú, adoptaría una mascota)

o Bare infinitive: Infinitive WITHOUT ‘to’ à drink, visit, read…

o Purpose infinitive: Infinitive WITH ‘to’ à to drink, to visit, to read…
o Gerund: The ‘-ing’ form à drinking, visiting, reading…

WATCH OUT!

To try DOING something To try TO DO something

If you have problems sleeping, you could try The doctors tried to save his life.
doing some yoga before you go to bed. He tries to be quiet, but he's a noisy child.
Why don't you try drinking some warm milk?

à Probar a hacer algo (experimentar o à Intentar o tratar de hacer algo (realizar

considerar aplicar un método) un esfuerzo)