Speaker 1: Do you ever feel a little uncomfortable giving advice in English?
Maybe you want to help someone, but you don't want
to sound pushy, bossy, or rude, so you're not sure
what to say. The good news is Native speakers rarely
give advice in a very direct way. Instead of saying
things like you should do this, we usually soften our
advice and make it sound more friendly and conversational. So
today let's look at some very common, very natural ways
native speakers give advice in everyday English.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine seventy three,
giving advice in English? Have you ever thought about It? Today,
we're going to look at several common phrases you can
use to give advice. They all sound friendly, casual, and
very natural in conversation. So let's start with have you
ever thought about? This? Is one of the softest ways
to give advice in English. When you say have you
ever thought about You're not telling someone what to do.
You're simply suggesting an idea and letting them decide. For example,
imagine your friend is feeling tired and stressed from work.
You might say, have you ever thought about taking a
short break? Or maybe someone is unhappy in their job,
you could say, have you ever thought about changing departments?
This phrase sounds polite and open. It gives advice, but
it doesn't create pressure. And remember we use have you
ever thought about? Followed by an ing have you ever
thought about doing that? Next, let's look at why don't you?
Why don't you is very common in spoken English, and
it sounds friendly, not critical. By the way, we use
why don't you followed by a base verb, you can
say things like why don't you go there? Why don't
you try it? And why don't you do that? Like
your coworker says, I don't understand this part of the project,
but I don't want to bother anyone, you could say,
why don't you ask your manager to explain it again?
Or if your friend says, oh, my neighbor plays love
music late at night and I can't sleep. Instead of
saying you should complain, you might say why don't you
talk to her and ask her to turn the music down.
Even though it sounds like a question, why don't you
is really a suggestion, not a real question. Next up
is you might want to. That's another very common advice phrase.
It sounds careful and practical, especially in work situations. For example,
if a coworker is about to send an important email,
you might say you might want to double check that
email before you send it. Or if someone comes late,
you can say you might want to leave a little earlier.
Next time, you might want to is great when you
want to help but don't want to sound too strong.
The next one is you could always. You could always
is used when you're offering an opinion or a possible solution,
like if a friend can't decide what to do about
a personal problem, you can say, well, you could always
take a day off and think about it. Or if
a coworker is worried about asking for help, you might say, ah,
you could always ask your boss directly. The phrase you
could always makes the advice sound flexible, like one option,
not the only answer. Now let's move on to some
more casual advice phrases. These are very common in relaxed
spoken English. First is what about? What about is a
very easy and natural way to suggest an idea. Imagine
your friend says I keep missing my English class because
of work meetings. You could suggest, what about taking the
Saturday class instead. Or imagine a coworker says, I'm not
sure how to tell my team that the deadline changed.
You might say, what about sending a group message to everyone?
This sounds casual and helpful, not pushy. What about is
great when you're suggesting one possible idea, not giving strong advice.
Next is how about? How about? Often sounds a little
more supportive or encouraging, especially when someone looks tired, stressed,
or unsure. For example, if a friend says I've been
working non stop all week and I feel really exhausted,
you could say, hey, how about taking tomorrow afternoon off
and getting some rest. That sounds caring, not pushy. Or
imagine someone says I'm tired of all the same old
choices for lunch, You could say, well, how about trying
that new cafe near the train station? Simple, friendly, and
very natural. The last one is why not? Why not
sounds a little more confident and encouraging. It's still casual,
but it can gently push someone forward. For example, imagine
your friend met a woman at a party and says,
I'm not sure if I should ask her out. What
if she says no, you could say why not ask her?
You have nothing to lose. Or if a coworker says, oh,
I've never tried online English lessons before, you might say, well,
why not try one lesson and see how it goes.
This encourages action without pressure. So how about often sound supportive,
while why not sounds a little more encouraging. But both
are very natural in conversation. So let's put this all together.
Native speakers usually avoid giving advice directly. Instead, we soften
our words and make suggestions sound more friendly. We use
have you ever thought about to gently suggest an idea?
Why don't you? For friendly advice? You might want to
for careful, practical advice, you could always to offer an opinion?
And what about? How about why not? For casual, everyday suggestions.
That's why these phrases are so useful. They help you
give advice without sounding bossy. Before we wrap up, let
me ask you something. Is there someone you want to
help right now? What advice could you give them? Using
one of today's phrases? Try saying it out loud That's
how you start using these expressions naturally. And remember the
best way to remember English like this and any other
word or phrase in English, is to take that word
or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for
you or true when your world, and then memorize your sentences.
That's how you build fluency. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember,
learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you on your journey.
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