Giving and Asking for recommendations in English

oh hi everybody welcome back to our

weekly live stream my name is Alisha and

today we’re going to talk about how to

give and ask for recommendations and

advice this week is a good lesson for

beginners I’m going to talk about some

patterns you can use for both of these

topics and I made the patterns kind of

open so my goal here is to help you be

able to build questions and be able to

build answers as well so I hope everyone

can find something at the end of today’s

lesson I’m going to cover some tips some

common mistakes that I hear from

learners with both of these topics so I

hope there’s a little bit of advanced

information in today’s lesson too while

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all right uh so today we’re going to

cover kind of two groups

I made a today’s lesson into two groups

to explain before we begin so the top of

the board in today’s lesson the top of

the board is recommendations information

so I’m going to cover how to ask for

recommendations and advice how to give

and then we’ll cover tips at the end so

the top of the board today is

recommendations up here the bottom of

the board is advice so there are these

two kind of groups of information for

today’s lesson we’re going to cover

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you - welcome okay let’s get started

with the first part - for today’s lesson

so I’m going to cover this part of the

board first

there we are - I’m gonna cover this part

of the board first I’m going to cover

how to ask for recommendations and how

to ask for advice let’s begin here let’s

start with recommendations so a

recommendation what is a recommendation

a recommendation first this is a noun

it’s when you want something you want

someone’s opinion about something like a

restaurant a book a movie you’re

interested in something you’re looking

for something and maybe another person

has information about it you want that

information what did they think is good

how do you ask for a recommendation so

couple patterns similar similar patterns

but some things to think about do you

have any recommendations for topic do

you have any recommendations for topic

at native speed this sounds like do you

have any recommendations for something

so quite quick do you have any

recommendations for something so this

part do you have becomes very short so

not do you have but do you have do you

have do you have any recommendations fur

and in my accent this for sounds like

fur and very fast speech a couple other

points here one recommendations in this

pattern should be plural do you have any

recommendations so sometimes I hear

learners remove or like they forget this

s sound do you have any recommendations

for thing let’s look at some examples of

this do you have any recommendations for

restaurants or do you have any

recommendations for tours in London so a

native speed this sounds like do you

have any recommendations for restaurants

or do you have any recommendations for

tours in London so when you choose your

your topic the thing you want the

recommendation for a point to keep in

mind it’s really hard sorry if you can’t

see on your screen I will read this

point

this says if the topic is a countable

noun for example restaurants or tours

use the plural form of the noun so

restaurants so not restaurant but

restaurants or tours not tour so please

use the plural form if the noun is a

countable noun if it’s an uncountable

noun you don’t need to worry but please

use the plural form in this pattern do

you have any recommendations for plural

noun is what you should use in this

pattern so please keep this in mind then

another very common pattern is this one

very very similar to this but there are

a couple of small points to keep in mind

first we have the same do you have any

which is fine like just as I talked

about here that kind of Twix do you have

any do you have any pronunciation but

the thing that’s different here is that

your topic comes before the word

recommendations and in this pattern you

should use the singular form of your

noun not the plural form so you can put

your topic before or after

recommendations

oh I just lost this great cone aspect

you can put your topic before

recommendations and it can be singular

or you can put your topic after

recommendations with for but it should

be plural so please keep this in mind

some examples of this do you have any

horror movie recommendations horror

movie records so horror movie means

scary yeah so do you have any horror

movie recommendations in this pattern my

topic the thing I want the

recommendation for comes before

recommendations yeah

so recommendations plural form here yeah

or movie however is singular horror

movie recommendations horror movies

recommendations is incorrect you cannot

use that another example do you have any

book recommended

Asians book is in the singular form so

again you could use these with this

pattern also they mean the same thing

it’s up to you there’s no difference in

meaning here you could say do you have

any recommendations for horror movies

correct or do you have any

recommendations for books correct

so just keep in mind the singular plural

thing

some examples are coming in do you have

any recommendations for an island tour a

honey flower gifts delivery the long

name please don’t forget do you have any

recommendations for so don’t forget this

s at the end of your recommendations

their pasta game says do you have any

burger joint recommendations okay so two

of you so far your s you are missing the

S at the end of your recommendation

recommendations and don’t forget that

Shola says do you have any

recommendations for today’s topic yeah

you could say that but like it’s kind of

what exactly are you asking about that

part’s not clear grammatically correct

giorious says do you have any

recommendations for my trip to your

country that’s what I would say for my

trip to your country okay let’s okay

might have tricky foam feet cool happy

so facebook comments sorry Facebook

there’s some interesting issues here I

will I’m looking at your comments I have

to check it on my on my phone Facebook I

don’t see your examples yet what exactly

is recommendation so recommendation is

someone else’s suggestion someone else’s

suggestion for something that they want

bori says does she have so you can

change the subject from do you have to

does he or does she have any coffee

recommendations is good okay good let’s

continue then to part two part two is

about advice so we talked about how to

ask for recommendations now let’s talk

how to ask for advice this I made this a

very very open pattern so that you can

build your own questions with this okay

so to make this advice pattern let’s use

a wh question when I say WH question

I mean who what where when why how those

questions so those information gathering

questions WH question do you think I

should verb or verb phrase this is a

very basic advice pattern let’s take a

look at some examples of how to build

questions with this pattern first I need

to choose a wh question to start so what

what do you think I should say here’s my

verb say to my boss so I’ve made a verb

phrase here depending on the situation

maybe just a verb is okay your idea is

complete with just the verb but say to

my boss what do you think I should say

to my boss so you’re looking for advice

in a challenging work situation what do

you think I should say to my boss so end

this with a verb phrase this part right

here do you think I should this right

here shows you are asking for advice no

questions okay so let’s go to the other

example

where where do you think I should go for

my date where do you think I should go

form a date so my wh question is where

in this case again asking advice here

where do you think I should verb phrase

go for my date so this is a very very

open advice question I will look for

your advice examples in the chat

hello everybody lots of people saying

hello example some examples for

recommendations are coming do you have

any recommendations for my trip to Dubai

do you have new food recommended

good send me your advice examples - I

will try to check live ok for now let’s

go to pattern 2 though pattern 2 for

advice

today is a wh question starts with a wh

question again

so who what where when why + would u +

verb or verb phrase so in this one we’re

using wood so this well let’s look at

the examples first so you can get an

idea first one which candidate which

candidate so here I’m using which using

of a series of choices which one or

which person candidate means like a

person trying to get a position like a

candidate for president or a candidate

for a job someone who wants to be in a

position which candidate would you

choose for the position so here my verb

is choose and I’ve got yeah in this case

some extra information which candidate

would you choose so the feeling with

this kind of sentence is if you were in

charge of the decision what would you do

so it’s asking about that person’s

thoughts about their actions what would

you do what would you choose so the idea

here is also like maybe that person is

not in charge but you want to learn

their thoughts about it what would you

do which candidate would you choose

another example the very very helpful

and very general what would you do so

again my WH question here is what would

you do so this one you can use in lots

of different situations to get advice if

you have a challenging situation at your

office or something difficult and you’re

a friendship or relationship you can ask

for advice with what would you do what

would you do

some examples are coming in facebook

says where do you think I should go in

the wintertime nice

from a Otello where do you think I

should go in the winter time perfect

example nice some other ones Hudson says

which do you think I should study

tomorrow English or Spanish sorry nice

nice one okay other examples I don’t see

others on Facebook yet so good to

YouTube where should I go to enjoy local

food nice one kidding that one sounds

good can I make the sentence without a

do verb what you think I should touch

you dance I know you need to include do

here so what do you think I should or

what

what do you are what would you love oh

uh this pattern yeah what do you think

you need to use do here ya can keep that

there Elliman says where do you think I

should travel this summer nice examples

nice examples Rosana

what do you think I should do what do

you think I should do to be better in

English that will fix your sentence what

do you think I should do to be better in

English ash ugh show glad again sorry

which candidate would you choose for the

presidential election this one uh other

examples Facebook huh I don’t see any on

Facebook okay let’s see whoa times going

quick let’s take a break

so this is our advice as our advice and

recommendations how to ask for advice

and ask for recommendations here we’re

going to cover the response next but

we’re going to take a short break so

I’ll share with you a couple other

things I did not share with you earlier

I don’t know if you missed it if you

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these are vocabulary and phrase sheets

that you can download save to your phone

print out whatever this one is about

food on the back is expressions for

ordering at a restaurant so it’s

vocabulary words how to give compliment

stuff like that you can totally use this

one right here this pattern right here

is perfect for restaurants do you have

any recommendations do you have any

recommendations is good to ask the staff

at the restaurant when you don’t know

what to order so this is a really good

one for today’s lesson some other ones

this one I’ve shown several times the

business English one and on the back are

expressions for business meetings you

can check this out these are other good

down here the advice patterns I

introduced are good to use in work

situations so check these all out you

can find them all for free I’ll link

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check in please check facebook for

YouTube hello Giovanni yeah a one of our

memories is in the chat welcome

okey-dokey let’s go to part 2 for today

part 2 is about responding responding to

people’s questions and so if you have

not already please make sure to like and

share the video hit the thumbs up so

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lesson we appreciate that as always

let’s continue then - part 2 part 2

giving recommendations and giving advice

so let’s look at some patterns you can

use to give recommendations check out

check out check out something so let’s

say someone said do you have any

recommendations for a new TV show you

might say check out the good place or

check out the mandalorian or check out

Sara’s looking at you check out

something

check out Nam phrase check out

recommendation this is a casual way to

say you should watch or I think you

should watch is casual and direct check

out this thing another one try try this

one is natural try something for

activities if you if you want to suggest

like a sport like o try hiking or try

a bicycling or try playing a sport

buh-buh-bah this one is natural for

activities you can also you can also use

just regular noun phrases with this like

try this TV show or try this artist

something like that that’s also fine the

difference between try and check out try

sounds a little less direct

it’s like test this out maybe you’ll

like that try this thing this is good

maybe for food as well like oh try this

dish it’s good something like that is

quite natural in this case next one I

want to focus on here is have you heard

of have you heard of something I heard I

hear a lot of learners use the pattern

do you know do you know so lots of

people will say for example do you know

sushi or do you know this country so

please more naturally you should use

have you heard of have you heard of this

thing have you heard of sushi the answer

is yes for most people have you heard of

listening so this sounds more natural to

native speakers then do you know we use

do you know for facts or more naturally

like did you know when we’re introducing

new information we use do you know for

like personal relationships like do you

know that guy that sounds natural when

you’re talking about life experience

like when you’re giving a recommendation

it’s much more natural to use have you

heard of this thing have you heard of

why do I keep my much of the good place

have you heard of the mandalorian have

you heard of altered carbon that’s a

weird show I watched a while back yeah

have you heard of this thing have you

heard of coronaviruses Christopher yes

okay on Facebook sorry I can’t see your

comments except on my phone today for

some reason

hi everybody okay so have you heard of

is good one more

you could go to place you could so I’ve

got go to here I made this just to give

you a pattern to use for like rest

or for travel recommendations so you can

of course use this to talk about other

actions you could verb is fine you can

change go to another verb you could go

to that restaurant you could go to that

country you could go to this cafe so you

can use this to give a recommendation

for some place to visit also add details

so when someone asks you for a

recommendation you can follow up by

saying Oh check out this TV show and

then give some details

why do you recommend that TV show why do

you recommend that thing that restaurant

because the dessert there is great or

the story is so good or the effects are

amazing whatever you want to like

whatever your opinion is share some

details why are you recommending that

thing in particular give some small

details it’s nice to do these are very

simple but very natural to use so try to

include something like this Oh looky I

don’t see any questions so let’s

continue to advise giving advice when

someone asks for advice you can give it

with a simple I fink pattern that’s fine

I think you should Ferb I think you

should Ferb like I think you should go

to a nice casual restaurant for your

date I have I think in parenthesis here

because you don’t have to include it

it’s very natural to drop I think when

it’s clear from the conversation you’re

just sharing your opinion so you can say

oh you should go to a nice casual

restaurant or you should tell your boss

you’re interested in management the key

here is this you should you should this

is a very basic easy to remember pattern

for giving advice and then what needs to

follow is just a verb in the infinitive

form you should tell you should go you

should see you should

watch you should listen whatever your

verb that follows should should just be

in the infinitive form so infinitive

form means like the basic dictionary

form yeah okay examples have you heard

our teachers story of us kenneth on

facebook have you heard this part have

you heard don’t forget this d heard of

this thing okay one more I wanted to

introduce this if I were you pattern if

I were you I would verb if I were you I

would work for example if I were you I

would work on building new skills so

giving advice again or I would make a

monthly budget for myself so someone

asking for advice about money their

friend might give them this advice again

this if I were you is optional you can

remove it it’s totally fine if I were

you and yeah this part pronunciation

wise native speakers do not say if I

were you we say if I were you if I were

you it sounds like that okay

time’s going quick so I will wrap up in

just a minute with some important tips

over here I guess I’ll take one more

quick break to show you a couple more

things to download check it out yeah

okay here we go I’ll show you these are

you gonna zoom in on me again

oh gosh okay these are free things that

you can download to improve your

vocabulary to study vocabulary points I

showed you some earlier and this one is

for your cities for those of you who

want to practice directions check this

one out you should check out its pedia

oh gosh that’s so cheesy some other one

emergency expressions if you need to

practice some of these it’s good there

are some key vocabulary for like natural

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YouTube or Facebook can’t see your

comments so sorry do you have any PDF

recommendations yes the ones I just

showed you okay let’s go to the last

part for today’s lesson I don’t see any

questions on Facebook so I’m going to

continue let’s go to the last part now

for today and if you have not already

please make sure to like and share this

video so other people can find it I want

to talk about a few tips these are very

quick short tips that I think will help

you when you’re using these patterns

first let’s talk about recommendation

patterns when you are asking for a

recommendation as we talked about at the

beginning of today’s lesson when you’re

asking for a recommendation give

information about your preferences so

your preferences means what you like and

what you dislike if you don’t know how

to do that please check last week’s live

stream you can review that so for

example I like or I don’t like this sort

of thing or I’m looking for something

lovable so when you ask for a

recommendation it’s good to give the

other person some information like if

you’re looking for a dessert

recommendation you might say do you have

any recommendations for desserts I don’t

like things that are super sugary so

give some information about your likes

and dislikes don’t just say do you have

any recommendations that makes it kind

of challenging for the person to give

you something

that’s suited to you then when you give

your recommendation in this part here

it’s very natural to use command form so

the command form for example it’s like

try or go or do so you don’t have to use

you

here you can just use the command form

above er you can also use expressions

like have two or got two so those make

your recommendations stronger so instead

of try this desert you can say you have

to try this desert it’s so good

so using have two or got two will

elevate or will make your recommendation

stronger a little more like and there

will be more emphasis on your

recommendation so those are two points

for your recommendations asking and

giving last hear about advice two points

about advice when I introduced this

pattern I think you should blah blah

blah lots people ask like can I use

could or would hear the answer is you

can use could but remove I think from

this one like there are some cases where

you can use I think you could but when

you use I could patterns

it makes your it makes the request or

the the idea it makes the recommendation

the advice softer so for example you

could go to a nice casual restaurant so

you if you use you should go it’s

stronger if you say you could go to a

nice restaurant it’s just saying it’s

possible to do that thing

so using could is okay I would suggest

you remove I think from those sentences

please note you cannot use wood you

cannot just use wood in place of should

in this sentence please keep this in

mind last point last tip in this pattern

in this if I were you pattern lots of

people ask what’s the difference between

if I were and if I was in these patterns

please use if I were native speakers

tend to use if I was and if I were

interchangeably most of the time there’s

no communication problem but the

difference if I was is

used to describe a possible past

situation so what possible past

situation or condition if I were you

describes an unreal situation which is

now like I cannot be you that’s not real

if I was describes a past situation so

like for example talking to your

neighbor you might say if I was noisy

last night I apologize like maybe you

had a big party you don’t know if you

were noisy at the party but you want to

express that to your neighbor if I was

noisy

I apologize not if I were noisy I was so

please keep this point in mind if I were

in these cases if I were you okay

those are all my points okay I’m looking

for questions from you I don’t see any

questions on YouTube on Facebook I do

not see any questions there okay so oh

also I’m okay so I’ll I will wrap it up

there but I hope that this was helpful

for you for recommendations advice

giving asking I hope you got some

patterns that you can use some things to

review so we’ll finish there I will be

back next week next week’s topic is how

to express problems yes a good one

so I’m going to give you some

expressions you can use to talk about

challenges and to tell people like to

explain what’s wrong to somebody which

is difficult I know so please join us

again next week that will be March 12th

Wow Wednesday March 12th 9 p.m. Eastern

Standard Time that is New York City time

please Google your local time if you

don’t know what time that is Google it

Google skills so please join us to talk

about expressing issues in a natural way

I will sign off there so thank you as

always for joining us live we really

appreciate it

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so enjoy your week enjoy your weekend

and I will see you again next time