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Speaker 1: Do you ever feel a little uncomfortable giving advice in English?

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Maybe you want to help someone, but you don't want

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to sound pushy, bossy, or rude, so you're not sure

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what to say. The good news is Native speakers rarely

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give advice in a very direct way. Instead of saying

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things like you should do this, we usually soften our

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advice and make it sound more friendly and conversational. So

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today let's look at some very common, very natural ways

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native speakers give advice in everyday English.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine seventy three,

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giving advice in English? Have you ever thought about It? Today,

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we're going to look at several common phrases you can

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use to give advice. They all sound friendly, casual, and

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very natural in conversation. So let's start with have you

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ever thought about? This? Is one of the softest ways

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to give advice in English. When you say have you

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ever thought about You're not telling someone what to do.

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You're simply suggesting an idea and letting them decide. For example,

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imagine your friend is feeling tired and stressed from work.

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You might say, have you ever thought about taking a

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short break? Or maybe someone is unhappy in their job,

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you could say, have you ever thought about changing departments?

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This phrase sounds polite and open. It gives advice, but

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it doesn't create pressure. And remember we use have you

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ever thought about? Followed by an ing have you ever

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thought about doing that? Next, let's look at why don't you?

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Why don't you is very common in spoken English, and

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it sounds friendly, not critical. By the way, we use

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why don't you followed by a base verb, you can

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say things like why don't you go there? Why don't

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you try it? And why don't you do that? Like

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your coworker says, I don't understand this part of the project,

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but I don't want to bother anyone, you could say,

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why don't you ask your manager to explain it again?

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Or if your friend says, oh, my neighbor plays love

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music late at night and I can't sleep. Instead of

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saying you should complain, you might say why don't you

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talk to her and ask her to turn the music down.

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Even though it sounds like a question, why don't you

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is really a suggestion, not a real question. Next up

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is you might want to. That's another very common advice phrase.

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It sounds careful and practical, especially in work situations. For example,

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if a coworker is about to send an important email,

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you might say you might want to double check that

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email before you send it. Or if someone comes late,

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you can say you might want to leave a little earlier.

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Next time, you might want to is great when you

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want to help but don't want to sound too strong.

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The next one is you could always. You could always

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is used when you're offering an opinion or a possible solution,

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like if a friend can't decide what to do about

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a personal problem, you can say, well, you could always

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take a day off and think about it. Or if

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a coworker is worried about asking for help, you might say, ah,

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you could always ask your boss directly. The phrase you

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could always makes the advice sound flexible, like one option,

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not the only answer. Now let's move on to some

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more casual advice phrases. These are very common in relaxed

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spoken English. First is what about? What about is a

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very easy and natural way to suggest an idea. Imagine

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your friend says I keep missing my English class because

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of work meetings. You could suggest, what about taking the

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Saturday class instead. Or imagine a coworker says, I'm not

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sure how to tell my team that the deadline changed.

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You might say, what about sending a group message to everyone?

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This sounds casual and helpful, not pushy. What about is

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great when you're suggesting one possible idea, not giving strong advice.

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Next is how about? How about? Often sounds a little

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more supportive or encouraging, especially when someone looks tired, stressed,

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or unsure. For example, if a friend says I've been

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working non stop all week and I feel really exhausted,

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you could say, hey, how about taking tomorrow afternoon off

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and getting some rest. That sounds caring, not pushy. Or

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imagine someone says I'm tired of all the same old

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choices for lunch, You could say, well, how about trying

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that new cafe near the train station? Simple, friendly, and

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very natural. The last one is why not? Why not

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sounds a little more confident and encouraging. It's still casual,

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but it can gently push someone forward. For example, imagine

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your friend met a woman at a party and says,

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I'm not sure if I should ask her out. What

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if she says no, you could say why not ask her?

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You have nothing to lose. Or if a coworker says, oh,

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I've never tried online English lessons before, you might say, well,

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why not try one lesson and see how it goes.

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This encourages action without pressure. So how about often sound supportive,

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while why not sounds a little more encouraging. But both

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are very natural in conversation. So let's put this all together.

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Native speakers usually avoid giving advice directly. Instead, we soften

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our words and make suggestions sound more friendly. We use

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have you ever thought about to gently suggest an idea?

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Why don't you? For friendly advice? You might want to

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for careful, practical advice, you could always to offer an opinion?

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And what about? How about why not? For casual, everyday suggestions.

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That's why these phrases are so useful. They help you

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give advice without sounding bossy. Before we wrap up, let

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me ask you something. Is there someone you want to

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help right now? What advice could you give them? Using

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one of today's phrases? Try saying it out loud That's

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how you start using these expressions naturally. And remember the

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best way to remember English like this and any other

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word or phrase in English, is to take that word

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or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for

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you or true when your world, and then memorize your sentences.

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That's how you build fluency. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English Leads.

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Visit Myhappy English dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English.