Asking Suggestion Giving Suggestion

Do you have any suggestion for me? You'd better....

Will you give me some suggestion, please? You could (might)....
Shall I come back later I suggest that you....
Any idea? I recommend that you
Where do you think I can get something
You really should....
nice?
Can you tell me what happened? I strongly advise you to....
My advice is to be careful in doing
Please tell me what should I do?
business with them.

Accepting Suggestion Rejecting Suggestion

That's a good/nice/wonderful idea. I don't think so.
Yeah, sure. I tried that, but it didn't work.
Thank you. I'll try that. Thanks, but that won't help because....
Why didn't I think of that? I don't want to do that because....
I think you're right. That's a good idea, but....
That's sounds good. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Sure. I'll do that. I think it can't solve my problem.

Suggestions
from English Grammar Today
If we make a suggestion, it means that we mention a possible course of action to
someone. There are a number of expressions which we can use to make suggestions.

How about/what about + -ing?

How about starting a book club?

What about opening your present now?

How about + present simple?

A:
How about I pick you up at eight o’clock on my way to the airport?

B:
Great. I’ll see you then.

We often use how about and what about + noun phrase when we make suggestions
about food or drink. These suggestions are invitations:

A:
Are you hungry?

B:
Yeah, how about some lunch?

What about a coffee?

Why not …? and why don’t …?

We can use why not to make a general suggestion. We often find it in advertising:

Why not take a break in the south-west?

Why not treat yourself to a meal at the Icon Restaurant?

We can use why don’t …? to make a specific suggestion:

You look really tired. Why don’t you take some time out and rest?

It’s getting late in the evening now. Why don’t we stop now and work on this
tomorrow morning?

Let’s … and let’s not …

We use let’s (let us) to make suggestions about doing something with someone:

Let’s call Michael and see if he knows how to fix it.

Let’s make a curry tonight.

We use let’s not to make negative suggestions:

Let’s not argue about this.

Let’s not spend all night talking about my problems.

Could

We often use phrases with could to make suggestions. Some are neutral, some are
strong. The negative form, couldn’t, is stronger than the affirmative form:

Strong

A:
I only have three chairs. There will be four of us for dinner.

B:
Couldn’t you use the one in your bedroom?

A:
I need to finish this essay by tonight.

B:
Couldn’t you get up early in the morning to finish it?

Neutral

A:
I have nothing to wear to the party.

B:
You could wear your red dress and your black shoes.

A:
We’ll need to have at least £300 for the concert tickets, the accommodation and the
train.

B:
We could cut lawns and wash cars and that kind of thing. Or we could borrow the
money from our parents and pay them back.

Can’t you …?

We can use can’t you to make a strong suggestion. It can sound very direct when it is
addressed to someone who is present:

[mother to child]
Can’t you finish your homework before going?

[a woman is talking about her husband who wants a new television]

A:
I think our television is fine. I don’t want it to be replaced really.

B:
Mm.

A:
And he’ll want one of those wide screens.

B:
Oh dear. Can’t he manage with the one you have?

I thought we might/could

We can use phrases with I thought we might or I thought we could to make weak
suggestions, especially when we don’t want to sound too forceful:

On Saturday, I thought we might go to town and see the Farmers’ Market and then I
thought we could have lunch in a nice little café by the river.

You could always

We can use the phrase you could always or we could always to make weak
suggestions:

A:
Oh no! We’re out of olive oil.

B:
We could always use butter. I know it’s not as healthy, but it’ll taste good.

There’s always

We use the phrase there’s always to make very weak suggestions. It is sometimes
used when someone is trying to cheer someone up or trying to be funny:

A:
How did it go?
B:
We lost four nil. That’s it for this year. We’re out of the championship now.

A:
Don’t worry. There’s always next year.

[friends are chatting about the Beatles; Paul and Ringo are the names of two of its
members]

A:
I always liked Paul.

B:
I once dreamt that I married Ringo.

A:
Oh no! That was a nightmare!

C:
There’s always divorce!

We also use suggest and shall to make suggestions.

Asking Suggestions:
- What do you recommend we do about .....?
- What would you advices us to do?
- Do you have any suggestions?
- What would you do about ...?
- What do you think I should do?
- What do you suggest?
- Would you like to .....
- Shall we go ....
Giving Suggestions:
- I would recommend that you ....
- My advice would be to ...
- May I suggest that we ...
- If I were you, I would ....
- I think you should ....
- Maybe you should ...
- Why do not you ...
example :
John : Hi John , would you like to do something with me this weekend ?
Jane : Sure . What shall we do ?
John : I do not know . Do you have any ideas ?
Jane : Why do not we see a movie ?
John : That's sounds good to me . Which movie shall we see ?
Jane : Let's see " Action Man 4 " .
John : I'd rather not . I do not like violent films . How about going to " Mad Doctor Brown " ? I
hear it's quite a funny movie .
Jane : OK . Let 's go see that . When is it on ?
John : It 's on at 8 o'clock at the Rex . Shall we have a bite to eat before the movie ?
Jane : Sure , that sounds great . What about going to that new Italian restaurant ' Michetti 's ' ?
John : Great idea ! Let 's meet there at six .
Jane : OK . I'll see you at ' Michetti 's ' at six . Bye .
John : Bye

The expressions to make Suggestions, Requests and

Give instructions

TASK 1.

Here are some more examples of the expressions to make suggestions, requests and
give instructions.

Making Suggestions

You could (might) join the speech contest.

If I were you, I would take care this dog.

Why don’t you go to the doctor?

Why don’t you come to my house and borrow my umbrella?

What/How about going to the veterinarian?

Requesting

Would you mind passing me the salt, please?

Could you please take me to the dentist?

 Can you tell me what happened?

Will/Would you come to my birthday party?

Please tell me the story.

Giving Instructions

You should keep it out of the children’s reach.

Whatever you do, don’t be nervous.

Bring that magazine to me.

Read the text loudly.

TASK 2.

Study the following expressions of requests, suggestions and giving instructions.

Requesting

Would you mind …, please?

Can/Could you …?

Will/Would you …?

Please …

Accepting Requests

Sure, I’d be glad/happy to …

Of course/Certainly.

No problem.

Sure. Just a moment.

Refusing Requests

I’d loved to, but …

It sounds great, but …

I’m/sorry, but …
 Sorry to say that …

Suggestions

You could (might) …

I suggest/recommend that you …

You really should/ought to …

I strongly advise/urge you to …

You’d better …

Accepting Suggestions

That’s a good/nice/wonderful, idea/suggestion.

Thank you/Thanks.

I’ll do/try that.

Why didn’t I think of that?

I think you’re right.

Rejecting suggestions

I tried that, but …

Thanks, but that won’t work/help because …

I don’t want to/can’t do that because …

That’s a good idea, but …

Giving Instructions

Open page 10 of this book.

Give me that story book.

Read this paragraph loudly.

Write your own story.

Contoh Kalimat Suggestion! Cara “Giving Suggestion” – Suggestion atau saran adalah sesuatu yang kita
berikan atau seseorang berikan kepada orang lain yang terkena masalah ataupun kesulitan, pada intinya
suggestion digunakan untuk memberikan jalan keluar/solusi/saran kepada orang lain, perlu digaris bawahi ya
“jalan keluar atau solusi/saran”,
Cara Giving Suggestion - Situasi Biasa
Untuk memberikan suatu saran dalam situasi yang biasa-biasa saja, maka gunakanlah rumus berikut ini :

Rumus :
S + Should + Verb1 atau S + Ought to + Verb1

Keterangan :

 S adalah subjek, subjek dapat berupa noun, pronoun, dan noun phrase
 Verb1 adalah kata kerja
 Should dan Ought to artinya “harus”
Contoh :

 Budi should apologize to Mr. Rohmat – Budi harus meminta maaf kepada Tuan Rohmat
 Your friend ought to study hard this semester – Teman kamu harus belajar keras semester ini

Cara Giving Suggestion – Situasi Gawat/berbahaya

Dalam situasi yang sekiranya gawat, maka gunakanlah rumus berikut :
Rumus :

S + Had better +Verb1

*Had better = seharusnya

Contoh :

 You had better study hard this semester

 You had better go to work today
Contoh Kalimat Suggestion

Problems :
The first problem
“My Brother said that I stole his money, and all of my family think I really steal it. You know what? I really do
not steal it, what should I do?”

(Saudara saya mengatakan bahwa saya mencuri uangnya, dan semua keluarga saya berpikir saya benar-benar
mencurinya. Apa kau tahu? Aku benar-benar tidak mencurinya, apa yang harus saya lakukan?)

The second problem

“Yesterday, Our Lecturer was giving a quiz. The quiz is very important to build our score. But, My friend,
Usman, came late to the class because He got an accident on the way to campus. What should Usman do?"

(Kemarin, dosen kami member kuis. Kuis sangat penting untuk meningkatkan nilai kami. Tetapi, temen saya,
Usman, terlambat datang/masuk ke kelas karena dia mengalami kecelakaan dalam perjalanan ke kampus. Apa
yang harus Usman lakukan?)

Suggestions :

Suggestion for The first problem

“You had better explain that to them, especially to your brother because if He really angry, He can demand
you, and you will get in jail”

(Kamu seharusnya menjelaskan itu kepada mereka, terutama kepada saudaramu karena jika dia benar-benar
marah, dia bisa menuntutmu, dan kamu bisa masuk penjara)

Suggestion for The second problem

“Usman should ask the quiz to His Lecturer, or He will not get a score”

(Usman harus meminta kuis kepada dosen dia, atau dia tidak akan dapat nilai)