10 Ways to Give Advice

Lesson Transcript

You should learn how to whistle. Advice! I just gave you some advice! Let's go!

Hi everybody, and welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha, and today we're going to be talking about 10 ways to give advice. So, let's get started!

1. I think you should…

The first expression is “I think you should…”

I think you should is a very neutral, not so strong, not so weak way to give advice.

I think you should get a different haircut.

I think you should find a new job.

I think you should give me all your money. Can't hurt!

“I think you should” is a very typical way to give advice, or just “I think…” it's okay, or “you should” is okay, too.

In this sentence, I think you should find a new apartment.

2. Why don't you…?

The second expression is "why don't you…?" So it uses the negative “why don't you,” so that means it's a bit softer, it's a bit more of a weak way to give advice.

So, why don't you take a day off? Or, why don't you help me with my homework? That's sort of a sneaky way to give advice and ask for help at the same time.

Why don't you, I don't know, find a new hobby, for example. So these are kind of weak ways to give advice.

In this sentence, why don't you get a pet?

3. Have you thought about…?

So “have you thought about…?” It sounds like you're giving your advice, but this is a question for the listener. So have you thought about…? It's at your, you're sharing your opinion, but you're kind of making it sound like maybe it was the listener's idea, or maybe the listener has thought of this thing before, so this is also a fairly soft way to give advice.

So, like, have you thought about going to a different city?

Have you thought about moving in with your friends?

Something like that.

So these are probably going to be questions that are a little bit more serious, like, I don't feel like we would use this for really casual or really light questions, but maybe for something a little more serious, and a softer way to give advice in the sentence.

Have you thought about looking for a new job?

4. I don't know if… is a good idea.

So this is kind of a negative way to give advice or to share your opinion. It's “I don't know if … is a good idea. So you're giving someone advice not to do something. So for example, I don't know if getting a pet is a good idea, or, I don't know if starting a new project is a good idea. These are different ways that you can say you don't think or you think that the other person should not do something, but this is a soft way to express it.

In this sentence, I don't know if taking a year off work is a good idea.

5. Maybe you should try…

The next one is a suggestion to try something, so this is a soft but kind of encouraging expression, maybe you should try…

Maybe you should try...

So you are encouraging someone to attempt something, to try something, maybe not forever, but just for a short period of time.

So, maybe you should try volleyball.

Maybe you should try playing sports.

Maybe you should try spicy food.

Maybe you should try something, so it's encouragement to do something new, this is kind of positive but it's a fairly soft way to give your advice here.

Maybe you should try studying a new skill.

6. I wouldn’t…

So again, we have this negative “I wouldn’t,” I would not meaning, and I think we'll talk about this later, in my case, if this were my decision, I would not...

So for example, I wouldn't buy a new car if I were unemployed.

I wouldn't eat spicy food if my stomach were very sensitive, for example. In this case, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

7. if I were you, I would…

So in the previous expression, we used the negative “I wouldn’t,” but in this expression, we have the positive “if I were you, I would…”

So if I were you, which I'm not, but if I were you, this is what I would do, so this is my recommendation.

So if I were you, I would study every day.

If I were you, I would try to get enough sleep.

If I were you, I would cook dinner every day.

In this sentence, if I were you, I would look for a new car.

8. Have you tried…?

The next expression, this is very similar to “have you thought about…” So, again, it's a question for the listener and it's a suggestion for the listener, kind of soft advice. So, have you tried… Have you tried something, so this is something you can use to make a suggestion that people should try.

So, have you tried wearing glasses?

Have you tried getting contacts?

Have you tried talking to your boss?

Oh, actually, that's a good sentence, yeah. Have you tried talking to your boss about the problem? It's a small encouragement in that way.

9. My advice is to...

So this one is a very clear advice statement, my advice is to so is to... and then there's some action you recommend for the listener.

So my advice is to stop eating sweets.

My advice is to take a trip, or take a vacation.

My advice is to get a dog. Here we have the dogs again, I don't know.

In this sentence, my advice is to get some sleep.

So this is just a very clear very simple advice phrase.

10. You ought to...

The next expression is "you ought to..." So "ought to" means "should," but "ought to," it sounds more formal, more polite, it's not used as commonly as others, but actually we use the contracted form "ought to." So "ought to," just like "want to," can be contracted to "ought to." So you ought to... you should do something.

So you ought to give your new co-workers a try, very nice.

Or, you ought to get a new car.

You ought to get a new haircut.

You ought to go on a diet, for example. So this one is not used quite as often as the other expressions, but you may hear it from time to time. It sounds more formal, sounds more polite, in most cases. "You should" is perfectly fine but you might hear "you ought to" or "you ought to."

You should learn how to whistle. Advice! I just gave you some advice! Let's go!

Hi everybody, and welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha, and today we're going to be talking about 10 ways to give advice. So, let's get started!