VOA慢速英语2020--The Verbs Advise, Suggest and Recommend

 

Today, we begin the program with a short listening exercise. Pay attention for two verbs connected to giving advice:

If you are like me, you may not have had a real haircut since the pandemic began. But a friend just recommended a hair salon¹ on 17th Street. She also suggested I call for an appointment at least one month before the desired date. 

Did you catch the two verbs related² to advice-giving? They are "recommend" and "suggest."

In English, there are several verbs that carry the meaning of advice. On today's program, we will talk about three of them. The verbs "advise," "suggest" and "recommend" are close in meaning but there are some differences. However, these verbs share a few sentence patterns.

Meanings and uses

Let me begin by talking about differences between the meanings and uses.

The verb "advise" is the most formal of the three and is usually used when someone with authority³ or expertise⁴ gives a strong suggestion. It could come from a government official, for example, or a work supervisor⁵, a doctor or someone else. Its noun⁶ form -- "advice" -- does not carry the same usage⁷ rule. Anyone can offer advice to anyone else.

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 personal experience. Friends, family and coworkers, for example, often recommend things to each other. Even a friendly stranger can recommend something based on experience.

"Suggest" is the least formal of the three verbs. We use this verb in many situations to offer an idea, opinion or possible plan of action for someone to consider.

Note that, in common, everyday English, the verbs "suggest" and "recommend" are sometimes used interchangeably.

A very quick test

Now, let's do a quick self-test to see how much we know about sentence patterns. I will give you three sentences. You decide which ones use correct grammar. Here they are:

My dad suggested that I speak with my doctor.

She recommended to me a documentary⁸ film.

The teacher advised you should study more.

Did you decide which sentences are correct? The only correct answer is: "My dad suggested that I speak with my doctor."

If you are unclear about why it's correct, do not worry. Even highly⁹ experienced¹⁰ English learners can find the patterns tricky¹¹.

Many sentence patterns

Now, let's jump into the grammar.

The verbs "advise" "suggest" and "recommend" can follow many sentence patterns. Today, we will focus on a few patterns they have in common. Each verb can be followed by:

a noun phrase

a that-clause¹²

or a gerund

Verb + noun phrase

The first pattern is verb + noun phrase. A noun phrase is a group of words in a sentence that act as a subject or object. Noun phrases that follow the verbs "advise" "recommend" and "suggest" act as sentence objects.

Listen to an example to find out what I mean. Pay attention to the verb and the noun phrase that follows:

My doctor advises 30 minutes of cardio per day.

Here, the noun phrase after "advises" is "30 minutes of cardio."

Can you recommend a good restaurant in town?

Did you find the noun phrase after "recommend"? It is "a good restaurant."

May I suggest this natural pet food?

Did you catch the noun phrase? It is "this natural pet food."

Sometimes, we want to name the person who receives the suggestion. When we do this, we often follow the noun phrase with to + person. Listen to an example, which corrects a sentence from the short test earlier.

She recommended a documentary film to me.

The noun phrase here is "a documentary film." Notice that "to me" comes after (not before) the noun phrase to show who received the suggestion.

Verb + that-clause

The verbs "advise," "suggest" and "recommend" can also be followed by that- clauses¹³. A clause is a part of a sentence with its own subject and verb. That-clauses begin with the word "that" and are noun clauses.

Listen to some examples. Notice that each of our verbs of advice is followed by a that-clause:

Toni suggests that we hit the road by 6 in the morning.

Our boss advised that the team finish the project before the holiday.

I recommend that you bring warmer clothing. It can get really cold there at night.

There are two things to know about using that-clauses with these verbs:

The first is that the basic form of the verb must be used in the that-clause. The basic forms in the examples are "hit," "finish" and "bring."

The second is we can leave out the word "that" in noun clauses, especially in everyday speech and writing. For example, there is no difference in meaning between "I recommend that you bring warmer clothing" and "I recommend you bring warmer clothing."

Verb + gerund

And finally, the verbs "advise," "suggest" and "recommend" can be followed by gerunds.

Some of you may remember that a gerund is the -ing form of a verb and acts as a noun. Listen to these examples and notice that each verb is followed by a gerund:

I suggest taking a walk after lunch.

Our lawyers advised against speaking to the media.

We recommend going to the park on weekdays.

Did you find the gerunds? They are "taking," "speaking" and "going." Notice that we use the preposition¹⁴ "against" when we are expressing a negative meaning of "advise."

Well, that's our program for today. I recommend that you come back next week for another grammar lesson!

Words in This Story

salon –n. a business that gives people treatments to improve their appearance

pattern –n. a repeated design or structure that can be identified

formal –adj. language that is for serious or official speech

authority –n. the power or influence to give directions

focus –n. the main purpose or interest

cardio –n. exercises that raise your heart and breathing rates

pet –n. an animal such as a dog or cat that people keep mainly for pleasure

boss–n. the person whose job is to tell other workers what to do

negative –adj. expressing no, not approving

redundant¹⁵ –adj. something repeated that is not necessary

1 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

2 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

3 authority   

n.当局，官方；权力，权威，威信；当权者

参考例句：

• He is recognized internationally as an authority in this field.国际上承认他是这方面的一个权威。
• Professor White is looked upon as an authority on mathematics.怀特教授被看成数学权威。

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

6 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

7 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

8 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

9 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

10 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

11 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

12 clause   

n.（正式文件或法律文件的）条款，从句，分句

参考例句：

• The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
• What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款？

13 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

14 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

15 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。