Serendipity

Unit 13, Activity 2

Index Activity 3

The Language of Giving Advice

Here are some ways that we can give advice:

1 Using Should, Ought to, Must and Had Better

You ought to try asking your boss for a raise.
You should apologize to Sarah. I think you’ve upset her.
You’d better not drink that milk. It smells funny.
You mustn’t mention this to anyone.

2 Why don’t you/we...

Why don’t you take your kids to the zoo this weekend?
Why don’t we scrap this approach and start over?

3 I advise you to...

As your lawyer, I advise you to reconsider what you’re doing.

4 How about...?

You’re not sure where to go for your holiday? How about Jamaica?

5 I recommend/suggest that...

Note we use the word ‘that’ instead of ‘to’

I suggest that you don’t show these pictures to anyone.
I recommend that you read chapters three and four before the test.

6 Imperatives

An imperative is a direct instruction. An imperative sentence begins with the base verb.

-I can’t find my earrings.
-Try looking under the bed.

7 What you should do is...

What you should do is to upgrade the software on your laptop.

8 If I were you...

Note that we follow this with a ‘would’ clause.

If I were you, I would ask for your money back.