There are many ways of giving advice in English. Here are some of the more common expressions.
"If I were you, I would…"
"Have you thought about…"
"You really ought to…" ('ought' is pronounced 'ort')
"Why don't you…"
"In your position, I would…"
"You should perhaps…"
"You could always…"
Examples
If someone says "I'm having problems learning English", you could say:
"If I were you, I'd sign up for an English course."
"Have you thought about going to the UK for a couple of weeks?"
"You really ought to watch English television."
"Why don't you read more English books?"
"In your position, I would try and practise speaking English."
"You should perhaps look at the english-at-home.com website."
"You could always get a penpal."
16 comments on “Giving advice in English”
"You really ought to…" ('ought' is pronounced 'ort') — I think this is pronounced as "ot"
It probably is in American English, though in British English I'd say "ort".
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But please would you help me in telling me the expressions to be used when the advices are given to boss/elders?
Namrata »
You could say something like:
Perhaps you could…
It might be a good idea to…
It seens has a fault of using 'should' and 'perhaps' at the same time. 'should' means 'ought,must', but 'perhaps' means 'may, might'.
Sorry, I am saying the example "You should perhaps look at the english-at-home.com website."
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It's really helpful, every day i reads some lesson in this site. hopefully if additional chapter or ideas will come out for the future
Who can tell me what“go a head "means
Go ahead = do what you want to do.
Can I borrow this pen?
Sure, go ahead.
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With regards,
Tenzin Ghegay
thank for your tips. they are really useful for me. I hope you'll try more .
First of all thanks a lot again. and my question is for to explain me this sentence clearly please. that is "you could always get a penpal." especially the word penpal.
The sentence is giving you some advice and it means "It's a good idea to get a penpal". A penpal is a friend you don't know in person, but someone you write to.