Saturday, January 21, 2006

Difference between advice & advise & Recommend

ad·vice n.
1. Opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel.
2. Information communicated; news. Often used in the plural:
advices from an ambassador.
Synonyms: advice, counsel, recommendation
These nouns denote an opinion as to a decision or course of action:
sound advice for the unemployed;
accepted my attorney's counsel;
will follow your recommendation.

ad·vise v.
ad·vised, ad·vis·ing, ad·vis·es
v.tr.
1. To offer advice to; counsel.
2. To recommend; suggest: advised patience.
3. Usage Problem To inform; notify.
v.intr.
1. To take counsel; consult: She advised with her associates.
2. To offer advice.

Synonyms: advise, counsel, recommend
These verbs mean to suggest a particular decision or course of action: advised him to go abroad; will counsel her to be prudent; recommended that we wait.
Usage Note: The use of advise in the sense of "inform, notify" was found acceptable by a majority of the Usage Panel in an earlier survey, but many members would prefer that this usage be restricted to business correspondence and legal contexts. Thus one may say The suspects were advised of their rights, but it would be considered pretentious to say You'd better advise your friends that the date of the picnic has been changed.

rec·om·mend
v. rec·om·mend·ed, rec·om·mend·ing, rec·om·mends
v.tr.
1. To praise or commend (one) to another as being worthy or desirable; endorse: recommended him for the job; recommended a car instead of an SUV.
2. To make (the possessor, as of an attribute) attractive or acceptable: Honesty recommends any person.
3. To commit to the charge of another; entrust.
4. To advise or counsel: She recommended that we be on time. See Synonyms at advise.
v.intr.
To give advice or counsel: "recommended against signing an international agreement" Time.

WORD CHOICE recommend, suggest, advise
Use suggest when you are giving someone your ideas about what they should do or where they should go: He suggested that I talk to a counselor. Use advise when you tell someone what you think they should do, because it is the most sensible thing to do: Drivers are advised to avoid Highway 203. Use recommend to suggest that someone do something, after you have thought about it carefully: The report recommends a number of changes to the current law.
GRAMMAR
When you use recommend, suggest, advise, ask, insist, request, and demand with "that," use only the infinitive form of the verb without "to," even if the subject is singular: I recommend that this plan be accepted.
We ask that the committee review the facts.

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