The Verbs Advise, Suggest and Recommend

The verb “recommend” is less formal than “advise” and more personal. It is usually used when someone is making a suggestion based on his or her ... Accessibilitylinks Skiptomaincontent SkiptomainNavigation SkiptoSearch Next Close Previous Next PrintOptions: Images Multimedia EmbeddedContent Comments Cancel Print Linkhasbeencopiedtoclipboard AboutLearningEnglish BeginningLevel IntermediateLevel AdvancedLevel USHistory Video FollowUs Languages Search Search Previous Next BreakingNews EverydayGrammar TheVerbsAdvise,SuggestandRecommend January07,2021 Embed share EverydayGrammar:AdviceVerbs,Part1 Embed share Thecodehasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard. width px height px ShareonFacebook   ShareonTwitter   TheURLhasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard Nomediasourcecurrentlyavailable 0:00 0:02:26 0:00 Directlink 240p|7.0MB 360p|11.7MB 480p|20.4MB 720p|35.4MB 810p|41.7MB EverydayGrammar:AdviceVerbs,Part1 Share               TheVerbsAdvise,SuggestandRecommend share Print Embed share TheVerbsAdvise,SuggestandRecommend byVOA Embed share Thecodehasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard. TheURLhasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard ShareonFacebook   ShareonTwitter   Nomediasourcecurrentlyavailable 0:00 0:09:12 0:00 Directlink 128kbps|MP3 64kbps|MP3 Pop-outplayer Today,webegintheprogramwithashortlisteningexercise.Payattentionfortwoverbsconnectedtogivingadvice: Ifyouarelikeme,youmaynothavehadarealhaircutsincethepandemicbegan.Butafriendjustrecommendedahairsalonon17thStreet.ShealsosuggestedIcallforanappointmentatleastonemonthbeforethedesireddate. Didyoucatchthetwoverbsrelatedtoadvice-giving?Theyare“recommend”and“suggest.” InEnglish,thereareseveralverbsthatcarrythemeaningofadvice.Ontoday’sprogram,wewilltalkaboutthreeofthem.Theverbs“advise,”“suggest”and“recommend”arecloseinmeaningbuttherearesomedifferences.However,theseverbsshareafewsentencepatterns. Meaningsanduses Letmebeginbytalkingaboutdifferencesbetweenthemeaningsanduses. Theverb“advise”isthemostformalofthethreeandisusuallyusedwhensomeonewithauthorityorexpertisegivesastrongsuggestion.Itcouldcomefromagovernmentofficial,forexample,oraworksupervisor,adoctororsomeoneelse.Itsnounform--“advice”--doesnotcarrythesameusagerule.Anyonecanofferadvicetoanyoneelse. Theverb“recommend”islessformalthan“advise”andmorepersonal.Itisusuallyusedwhensomeoneismakingasuggestionbasedonhisorherpersonalexperience.Friends,familyandcoworkers,forexample,oftenrecommendthingstoeachother.Evenafriendlystrangercanrecommendsomethingbasedonexperience. “Suggest”istheleastformalofthethreeverbs.Weusethisverbinmanysituationstoofferanidea,opinionorpossibleplanofactionforsomeonetoconsider. Notethat,incommon,everydayEnglish,theverbs“suggest”and“recommend”aresometimesusedinterchangeably. Averyquicktest Now,let’sdoaquickself-testtoseehowmuchweknowaboutsentencepatterns.Iwillgiveyouthreesentences.Youdecidewhichonesusecorrectgrammar.Heretheyare: MydadsuggestedthatIspeakwithmydoctor. Sherecommendedtomeadocumentaryfilm. Theteacheradvisedyoushouldstudymore. Didyoudecidewhichsentencesarecorrect?Theonlycorrectansweris:“MydadsuggestedthatIspeakwithmydoctor.” Ifyouareunclearaboutwhyit’scorrect,donotworry.EvenhighlyexperiencedEnglishlearnerscanfindthepatternstricky. Manysentencepatterns Now,let’sjumpintothegrammar. Theverbs“advise”“suggest”and“recommend”canfollowmanysentencepatterns.Today,wewillfocusonafewpatternstheyhaveincommon.Eachverbcanbefollowedby: anounphrase athat-clause oragerund Embed share EverydayGrammar:AdviceVerbs,Part2 Embed share Thecodehasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard. width px height px ShareonFacebook   ShareonTwitter   TheURLhasbeencopiedtoyourclipboard Nomediasourcecurrentlyavailable 0:00 0:02:27 0:00 Directlink 240p|6.2MB 360p|8.9MB 480p|13.6MB 720p|33.0MB 810p|29.9MB Verb+nounphrase Thefirstpatternisverb+nounphrase.Anounphraseisagroupofwordsinasentencethatactasasubjectorobject.Nounphrasesthatfollowtheverbs“advise”“recommend”and“suggest”actassentenceobjects. ListentoanexampletofindoutwhatImean.Payattentiontotheverbandthenounphrasethatfollows: Mydoctoradvises30minutesofcardioperday. Here,thenounphraseafter“advises”is“30minutesofcardio.” Canyourecommendagoodrestaurantintown? Didyoufindthenounphraseafter“recommend”?Itis“agoodrestaurant.” MayIsuggestthisnaturalpetfood? Didyoucatchthenounphrase?Itis“thisnaturalpetfood.” Sometimes,wewanttonamethepersonwhoreceivesthesuggestion.Whenwedothis,weoftenfollowthenounphrasewithto+person.Listentoanexample,whichcorrectsasentencefromtheshorttestearlier. Sherecommendedadocumentaryfilmtome. Thenounphrasehereis“adocumentaryfilm.”Noticethat“tome”comesafter(notbefore)thenounphrasetoshowwhoreceivedthesuggestion. Verb+that-clause Theverbs“advise,”“suggest”and“recommend”canalsobefollowedbythat-clauses.Aclauseisapartofasentencewithitsownsubjectandverb.That-clausesbeginwiththeword“that”andarenounclauses. Listentosomeexamples.Noticethateachofourverbsofadviceisfollowedbyathat-clause: Tonisuggeststhatwehittheroadby6inthemorning. Ourbossadvisedthattheteamfinishtheprojectbeforetheholiday. Irecommendthatyoubringwarmerclothing.Itcangetreallycoldthereatnight. Therearetwothingstoknowaboutusingthat-clauseswiththeseverbs: Thefirstisthatthebasicformoftheverbmustbeusedinthethat-clause.Thebasicformsintheexamplesare“hit,”“finish”and“bring.” Thesecondiswecanleaveouttheword"that”innounclauses,especiallyineverydayspeechandwriting.Forexample,thereisnodifferenceinmeaningbetween“Irecommendthatyoubringwarmerclothing”and“Irecommendyoubringwarmerclothing.” Verb+gerund Andfinally,theverbs“advise,”“suggest”and“recommend”canbefollowedbygerunds. Someofyoumayrememberthatagerundisthe-ingformofaverbandactsasanoun.Listentotheseexamplesandnoticethateachverbisfollowedbyagerund: Isuggesttakingawalkafterlunch. Ourlawyersadvisedagainstspeakingtothemedia. Werecommendgoingtotheparkonweekdays. Didyoufindthegerunds?Theyare“taking,”“speaking”and“going.”Noticethatweusethepreposition“against”whenweareexpressinganegativemeaningof“advise.” Well,that’sourprogramfortoday.Irecommendthatyoucomebacknextweekforanothergrammarlesson! I’mAliceBryant. AliceBryantwrotethisstoryforVOALearningEnglish.MarioRitter,Jr.wastheeditor. _______________________________________________________________ ACommonMistake SomeEnglishlearnersandnativeEnglishspeakersmakethecommonmistakeofusingmodalverbs,suchas"should,"aftertoday'sverbs.Apersonmaysayorwrite,forexample,“Theteacheradvisedyoushouldstudymore.”Useofthemodalverb“should”heremakesthewordingredundant.Theverb“advise”alreadyexpressesthatsomeoneshoulddosomething.ThisredundancyissometimesacceptableinBritishEnglish.ButdonotuseitinAmericanEnglish. ________________________________________________________________ WordsinThisStory salon–n.abusinessthatgivespeopletreatmentstoimprovetheirappearance pattern–n.arepeateddesignorstructurethatcanbeidentified formal–adj.languagethatisforseriousorofficialspeech authority–n.thepowerorinfluencetogivedirections focus–n.themainpurposeorinterest cardio–n.exercisesthatraiseyourheartandbreathingrates pet–n.ananimalsuchasadogorcatthatpeoplekeepmainlyforpleasure boss–n.thepersonwhosejobistotellotherworkerswhattodo negative–adj.expressingno,notapproving redundant–adj.somethingrepeatedthatisnotnecessary Related GettingtoKnowGerundsandInfinitives CanYouFindtheClauses? MakingandRespondingtoSuggestions Backtotop XS SM MD LG