VOA慢速英语2019--劝说别人接受你的建议

Advising Others to Take Your Advice

This week, we answer a question from Ali in Iran. He writes,

Question:

“I want to know differences between the words 'advise' and 'advice'. Are they the same with different spellings?” – Ali, Iran

Answer:

Dear Ali,

The two words you asked about have somewhat different meanings. The VOA Learning English Word Book definies the verb advise as “to help with information, knowledge or ideas in making a decision.”

The noun form of the word, “advice,” is written with the letter c, which is said like /s/. But the verb “advise” is written with the letter s, which is pronounced like /z/. If you hold your hand to your throat, you will find that it vibrates, moving from side to side, when you say the /z/ sound.

Let us look at sentences with these words, starting with the verb advise.

It’s the cabinet’s job to advise the president.

Nutrition experts advise that we eat five servings of fruit and vegetables every day.

The professional traders advise against selling stock today.

Now, let’s look at the noun advice. Remember “advice” is the information or opinion you get from a friend or an expert.

People often look on the internet for medical advice before visiting a doctor.

My brother gave me good advice: finish my homework and go to bed.

Those friends were giving him bad advice. They told him to leave school.

You may have seen other pairs of words in English that work the same way as “advise” and “advice.” Some examples are the pairs devise and device, appease¹ and peace, prophesy² and prophecy (see definitions below this article). Two other words, license³ and practice, are written differently in British English, but they no longer have different spellings in American English.

So take my advice. Listen carefully to the sentence when you hear the word or look at the sentence around it when you read it. Then you will know if it is a verb or a noun, and you will know the meaning, too.

And that’s Ask a Teacher!

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

vibrate – v. to move back and forth⁴ or from side to side with very short, quick movements

pair – n. something made up of two very similar parts or pieces; twosome

1 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

2 prophesy   

v.预言；预示

参考例句：

• He dares to prophesy what will happen in the future.他敢预言未来将发生什么事。
• I prophesy that he'll be back in the old job.我预言他将重操旧业。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。