3 Sentence Structures Needed to Make Suggestions & Recommendations

The words “suggest” and “recommend” work just a bit differently from other verbs you may be familiar with.

It can be tricky to use them correctly at first, but with a little determination, you’ll get the hang of it in no time!

Is a friend asking for personal advice?

Does a colleague at work need a suggestion?

Do you just want to improve your English grammar?

Then you might be interested in these sentence starters…

I suggest/recommend that you…

The first way to make a suggestion or recommendation is to use a that-clause, and the verb that comes after “you” will be in its base form (like do, get, or go). This sentence formation is quite direct, so make sure you really believe in the recommendation!

Examples:

I suggest that you contact customer service.
I recommend that you go to the website.
I suggest that you stay at a nearby hotel.

I suggest/recommend doing… (or any other “-ing” verb form)

This one is less direct but just as commonly used.

It is usually clear based on context that the speaker/writer is recommending a course of action to the listener/recipient. You can also add a dependent clause to create a complex sentence (see the third example).

Examples:

I recommend consulting an attorney.
I suggest eating healthy and getting good sleep.
If you have a chance, I recommend traveling to Paris.

My suggestion/recommendation (for you) is to…

As you may have noticed, this structure is set up in a different way.

Suggest and recommend have been turned into nouns, but the overall meaning remains the same. Also, “for you” is optional. Feel free to include it or leave it out!

Examples:

My suggestion is to update the software.
My recommendation is to conduct a test.
My suggestion for you is to hire a tutor.

Is everything clear? Let us know!

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