Asking for Advice in English: phrases + dialogue

Do you like helping people make better decisions? Or are you always the person who asks for advice and recommendations?

Here are some natural English phrases for asking for advice and making suggestions or recommendations.

I need some advice: English dialogue

Asking for Advice and Making Suggestions: Example Dialogue

In this natural English dialogue, Jim asks Ben for advice about his bike. Ben gives Jim some useful tips to help him take better care of his bike. Jim listens to Ben’s advice and asks more questions.

Listen!

• Listen to the dialogue without reading the transcript. Just listen a few times, and try to understand the advice you hear.
• Read the useful phrases
• Listen again to the audio and read the full transcript at the same time.

Phrases for asking for advice

Here are some informal ways to ask for advice. We use these expressions when we want to know what someone else thinks, or if we need tips on how to do something.

1. Asking for general advice

We often ask questions like these to get solutions to problems we are having right now:

In his conversation with Ben, Jim asks:

So, how can I stop my tyres from going flat all the time? = I need to fix this problem with my bike tyres. What suggestions do you have?

Some other useful phrases for asking for general ways to fix problems are:

• What do you think I should do to …?
• Any ideas on what might help ..?
• What do you think might be the best way forward?
• What do you reckon?
• (Have you) got any bright ideas?

2. Asking for recommendations

These phrases ask for specific recommendations. We always ask questions like these to get advice on the best places to visit (e.g. restaurants) or things to do or buy.

In the dialogue, Jim asks Ben:

OK, so where’s the best place to get new tyres?

In informal English conversations, we often shorten questions and statements by removing grammar words that are not important:

In the dialogue, Jim asks Ben this short follow-up question:

Anywhere you’d recommend? (Is there anywhere that you would recommend?)

Here are a few more ways to ask for specific recommendations for different things:

• Where’s the best place to…?
• Can you recommend a good ….? (e.g. plumber / bike shop)
• What would you recommend?
• (Do you have) any tips on .. (e.g. Any tips on good Chinese restaurants around here)? = Do you know any good local Chinese restaurants?

Phrases for suggesting, recommending and warning

These phrases are commonly used when giving suggestions and recommendations. Each one can help you politely share your ideas.

1. Gentle suggestions

Gentle suggestions polite ways to suggest useful ideas. With gentle suggestions, we are just offering useful advice. We often use modals like “might” and “could” when making gentle suggestions.

Ben uses the phrase “It’s probably best to” to give gentle advice:

Well, it’s probably best to have a look online and see what you can find.

Ben also says:

It might also be worth getting some new tyres.

All of these other phrases are useful when you want to make gentle suggestions.

• It might be a good idea to..
• It might be worth .. (+ VERB+ING: “It might be worth looking online.”)
• It might be best to ..
• You could (always) try … (+ VERB+ING: you could always try buying a smaller bike”)
• Why don’t you…? (this is advice – NOT a question: e.g. A: “Why don’t you change the tyres?” B: “Ok, that’s a good idea.”
• How about…? (+ NOUN or VERB+ING: “How about looking online?.”)
• You might want to ..
• Have you tried…? (+ NOUN or VERB+ING: “Have you tried looking online?”)

2. Confident recommendations

Confident recommendations are stronger than gentle suggestions. They show that you know what you’re talking about!

When making confident recommendations, we often use 2nd Conditional expressions and phrases like “should really“, and “really need to”.

In the dialogue, Ben gives some confident advice about Jim’s tyres. After all, Ben knows way more about tyres than Jim does!

I’d change them if I were you.

• If I were you, I’d… / I’d … if I were you (PRONUNCIATION – “I” is stressed: “If I were you, I’d buy a road bike.”)
• If it were me, I’d (probably) .. (PRONUNCIATION – “me” is stressed: “If it were me, I’d probably go for a road bike.”)
• I probably wouldn’t bother with a mountain bike. = I don’t think you should buy a mountain bike.
• I’d definitely recommend… (+ NOUN or VERB+ING: “I’d definitely recommend getting a racer.”)
• You should really change your tyres as soon as you can. = I think you should change your tyres!
• You really wanna (want to) change those tyres! = I think you should change your tyres!
• You really need to get some new brakes! = I think you should change your brakes!
• You’ve got to / You have to / You must see that movie – it’s amazing! = I’ve seen that movie – I think you should see it too.

3. Warnings

These phrases are for giving strong advice or warnings. We use these kinds of phrase to tell people NOT to do things.

In the dialogue, Ben says “Whatever you do, don’t..” to warn Jim not to do something:

Whatever you do, don’t let your tyres go soft.

Here are some more phrases that warn or offer very strong advice:

• Don’t touch it with a bargepole! (idiom) = You must avoid …
• You (really) mustn’t / You absolutely MUST NOT ..! (strong)
• Do not …!

Asking for and giving advice: dialogue transcript

Try to follow the transcript while you’re listening to the dialogue. This will help you pick up each speaker’s stress, intonation and timing.

• Jim: So, how can I stop my tyres from going flat all the time?
• Ben: Hmm. Well, first and foremost, it’s a good idea to keep tyres nice and hard all the time.
• Jim: So, you mean I should pump them up properly, yeah?
• Ben: Yeah, exactly. Whatever you do, don’t let your tyres go soft.
• Jim: OK. Any other tips?
• Ben: Well, if you want a bit more peace of mind, you might want to get some tyre protectors, as well. You put them inside your tyres to make them harder.
• Jim: Ok, got it.
• Ben: It might also be worth getting some new tyres. To be honest, the ones you’ve got now look a bit worn out, to me. I’d change them if I were you.
• Jim: OK, so where’s the best place to get new tyres? Anywhere you’d recommend?
• Ben: Well, it’s probably best to have a look online and see what you can find. Just make sure you know your tyre and wheel size before you order anything.

Extra vocabulary from the dialogue

• I’ve got to pump them up = I need to put air in (my tyres).
• Any other tips? = Do you have any more advice?
• Peace of mind = feeling safe or secure – not worrying about things. Example: having good home insurance gives me a bit of peace of mind.
• Ok, got it. = I understand.
• A bit worn out = old, weak, or damaged.

Advice phrases: useful patterns and collocations

Words like “recommend”, “suggest” and “warn” follow different patterns in English. These common patterns and examples will help you remember how to use these advice words in the right way!

• Suggest + VERB+ING – I (would) suggest leaving early.
• Suggest + (someone) + BASE VERB – I (would) suggest you leave early.
• Recommend + VERB+ING – I (would) recommend leaving early.
• Recommend + (someone) + BASE VERB – I (would) recommend you leave early.
• Warn + (someone) + TO VERB (infinitive) – I warned him to stop talking.
• Warn + (someone) against + VERB+ING – I warned him against going there.
• Make + a suggestion to (someone) – I made a suggestion to her.
• Make + a recommendation (to someone) – I made a recommendation to them.
• Give (someone) recommendations + on + NOUN – Can you give me some recommendations on good places to eat?
• Give + (someone) some advice / tips + on – Let me give you some advice on where to go.
• Tell (someone) + (NOT) TO VERB – I told them not to eat the sushi!