MAKING SUGGESTIONS AND COUNTER SUGGESTIONS

In this topic, you will learn how to make suggestions and counter suggestions.  Let’s start the lesson! 

MAKING SUGGESTIONS

There are a number of expressions used when making suggestions. Here are some of the most common:

Why don't you / we go to the movies tonight?

You / we could visit New York while you're / we're there.

Let's go to the travel agent's this afternoon to book our ticket.

What about asking your brother for help?

How about going to Hawaii for your vacation?

I suggest you / we take all the factors into consideration before we decide.

How to construct?

Formula	Verb Form
Why don't you / we go to a movie?	Use the base form of the verb in a question
We / You could go to a movie.	Use the base form of the verb in a statement
Let's go to a movie.	Use the base form of the verb with 'let's'
What about going to a movie?	Use the '-ing' form of the verb in a question
How about going to a movie?	Use the '-ing' form of the verb in a question
I suggest you / we go to a movie.	Use suggest object verb in the base form in a statement.

COUNTER-SUGGESTIONS

We counter a suggestion when we disagree to someone or when we want to give other suggestions.  Here are a number of useful phrases used when disagreeing or expressing another opinion. 

I wouldn't do that. I would...

But if we...

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you.

Don't get me wrong, ...

Even so, if...

Don't forget that...

Very true, but...

Examples:

1. I wouldn't do that. I'd speak to the teacher first and see what she says.
2. But if we don't make those investments, we'll risk losing market share.
3. Don't get me wrong, I just think we should look at some other options before making a decision.
4. Even so, if we change classes this late, we might not get a passing grade.
5. Don't forget that we you still need to finish all your homework BEFORE you can do that.
6. Very true, but we still need to get the garden in shape before building a new deck.

GIVING ADVICE

There are occasions where we give advice instead of suggestions.  There are a number of formulas used when giving advice. Here are some of the most common:

I don't think you should work so hard.

You ought to work less.

You ought not to work so hard.

If I were you, I'd work less.

If I were in your position, I'd work less.

If I were in your shoes, I'd work less.

You had better work less.

You shouldn't work so hard.

Whatever you do, don't work so hard.

Example of making suggestions and counter suggestions.

What shall we do?

1. Hi Shukri, would you like to do something with me this weekend?
2. Sure. What shall we do?

1. I don't know. Do you have any ideas?
2. Why don't we see a film?

1. That's sounds good to me. Which film shall we see?
2. Let's see "Too Fast Too Furious 5".

1. I'd rather not. I don't like violent films. How about going to "Kung Fu Panda 2"? I hear it's quite a funny film.
2. OK. Let's go see that. When is it on?

1. It's on at 8 o'clock at the TGV. Shall we have a bite to eat before the film?
2. Sure, that sounds great. What about going to 'Mc’D'?

1. Great idea! Let's meet there at six.
2. OK. I'll see you at 'Mc’D' at six. Bye.

1. Bye.

Note: 'Shall we', 'Let's', 'Why don't we' are all followed by the base form of the verb ('go' in the examples), 'How about' and 'What about' are followed by the '-ing' form of the verb 'going' in the examples.

CONVERSATION PRACTICE

With a partner, practice making suggestions in the following situations:

1. Help your partner decide which item to buy.
2. Warn your partner against doing something.
3. Suggest that your partner change his/her plans.
4. Help your partner make up his/her mind.
5. Suggest doing an activity together.

Sample conversations:

A: Should I buy the Porsche or the Ferrari?
B: I think you should buy the Ferrari.
A: Why is that?
B: Because I'd like to borrow it.
A: Why don't you give Daphne a call?
B: Good idea. I haven't seen her for awhile.
A: Maybe you should ask her out.
B: Hmmm. I'll think about it.

Group Work Activity!

Aim: Building reading comprehension and advice giving skills / focus on modal verb 'should' and modal verbs of deduction

Activity: Reading about teenage problems followed by group work

Outline: 
1.  Start off the lesson by asking students to suggest what type of problems teenagers typically may have. 
2. Use one of the problems mentioned and inductively review modal verbs of deduction by asking questions such as, "What must have happened to the boy?", "Do you think he might have lied to his parents?", etc. 
3. Ask students for advice on what the person should do (reviewing the modal verb 'should'). 
4. Have students get into small groups (four or five students). 
5. Distribute the handout with the various teen problems taken from real life. Assign one (or two) situations to each group. 
6. Have the students answer the questions as a group. Ask students to use the same forms as given in the questions (i.e. "What might he have thought? - ANSWER: He might have thought it was too difficult.")  
7. Students should then use the sheet to report back to the class actively using the modal verb 'should' to give advice.  
8. As a follow-up exercise or homework:

-          Ask students to write about a problem they have had.

-          Students should not write their names on their short problem description

-          Distribute the problems to other students

-          Have students answer the questions about the situation described by on of their classmates

-          Ask students to verbally give recommendations

Teenage Problems - Giving Advice

Questionnaire: Read your situation and then answer the following questions

1.     

1.    1. What might the relationship be between the person and his / her parents?

2. How must he / she feel?
3. What can't have happened?
4. Where might he / she live?
5. Why might he / she have this problem?
6. What should he / she do? (Give at least 5 suggestions)

Teenage Problems: Texts

Should I Marry Him?

I have been with my Fiance for almost four years, We are going to get married next year but, there are a couple of concerns I have: one is the fact that he never talks about his feelings, he keeps everything inside of him. He sometimes has trouble with expressing his excitement about things also. He never buys me flowers or takes me out to dinner. He says that he doesn't know why, but he never thinks of things like that.

I don't know if this is a side affect of depression or, maybe, he is sick of me. He says that he loves me and that he wants to marry me. If this is true, what is his problem?

Female, 19

For Friendship or Love?

I'm one of those guys who have "the quite normal" problem: I'm in love with a girl, but I don't know what to do. I have already had a crush on some girls, never with any success, but this is something different. My problem is actually that I'm too cowardly to tell her anything. I know that she likes me and we're very, very good friends. We've known each other for about three years, and our friendship has constantly become better. We often get into quarrels, but we always make up. Another problem is that we often talk about problems with each other, and so I know she is having problems with her boyfriend (who I think is no good for her). We meet almost every day. We always have very much fun together, but is it really so difficult to love someone who has been a good chum to you until now?

Male, 15

Please Help me and My Family

My family don't get along. It's like we all hate each other. It's my mom, me, my two brothers and a sister. I am the oldest. We all have certain problems: My mom wants to quit smoking so she is really stressed out. I am really selfish (I just can't help it). One of my brothers is too bossy. He thinks he is better than the rest of us and that he is the only one who helps my mom. My other brother is kind of abusive and depressed. He always starts fights and he's really spoiled (my mom doesn't yell at him for doing things wrong and when she does, he laughs at her); My sister (who's 7) makes messes and doesn't clean them up. I really want to help because I don't like being upset all of the time and having everyone hate everyone else. Even when we start to get along, someone will say something to upset someone else. Please help me and my family.

Female, 15

Hates School

I hate school. I cannot stand my school so I skip it almost every day. Luckily, I am a smart person and I'm in all of the advanced classes and don't have reputation as a rebel. Only the people who really know me know about my strange feelings. My parents don't care - they don't even mention it if I don't go to school. What I end up doing is sleeping all day and then staying up all night talking to my girlfriend. I get behind in my work and when I try to go back to school I get a bunch of crap from my teachers and friends. I just get so depressed when I think about it. I have given up on trying to go back and now am considering dropping out altogether, but I really don't want to do that because I realize it would ruin my life. I don't want to go back at all but I also don't want it to ruin my life. I am so confused and I have really tried to go back and just can't take it. What should I do? Please help.

Male, 16

Refenrences:

http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/f_suggestions.htm

http://esl.about.com/od/conversationlessonplans/a/l_advice.htm

iteslj.org/games/9962.html

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_advice.htm

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/communication-lesson-advice.php

TOPIC 1 ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS : CLARIFICATIONS

Clarification comes from the word “clarify” which means to make clear of confusion or uncertainty; clarify the mind.  In a conversation or social interaction, there are times when we need to make clarifications.  Same as making enquiries, making clarification required us to be able to ask questions.  There are few ways of making clarification.  You may use the “WH-questions” (refer topic-enquiries), “YES/NO-questions” (refer topic-enquiries) and also “TAG-questions”. 

Tag Questions

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure is:

+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Look at these examples with positive statements:

positive statement [+]				negative tag [-]			notes:
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun (same as subject)
You	are	coming,		Are	n't	you?
We	have	finished,		Have	n't	we?
You	do	like	coffee,	Do	n't	you?
You		like	coffee,	Do	n't	you?	You (do) like...
They	will	help,		Wo	n't	they?	won't = will not
I	can	come,		Can	't	I?
We	must	go,		Must	n't	we?
He	should	try	harder,	Should	n't	he?
You		are	English,	Are	n't	you?	no auxiliary for main verb be present & past
John		was	there,	Was	n't	he?

Look at these examples with negative statements:

negative statement [-]						positive tag [+]
subject	auxiliary		main verb			auxiliary	personal pronoun (same as subject)
It	is	n't	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n't	like		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	help,			will	they?
They	wo	n't	report		us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n't	tell		her,	must	we?
He	should	n't	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You			are	n't	English,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Some special cases:

I am right, aren't I?	aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?	you (do) have to go...
I have been answering, haven't I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let's go, shall we?	let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?	he had better (no auxiliary)

Here are some mixed examples:

• This will work, won't it?
• Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
• We'd never have known, would we?
• The weather's bad, isn't it?
• You won't be late, will you?

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:

• You don't know of any good jobs, do you?
• You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
• You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

	intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It's a beautiful view,	isn't it?	\ falling	not a real question

Answers to tag questions

A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence.

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question	correct answer
Snow is white, isn't it?	Yes (it is).	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS WHITE!	but notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner
Snow isn't white, is it?	Yes it is!
Snow is black, isn't it?	No it isn't!	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS NOT BLACK!
Snow isn't black, is it?	No (it isn't).

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

• The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
• The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
• The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
• Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
• Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
• Men don't have babies, do they? No.
• The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

	imperative + question tag	notes:
invitation	Take a seat, won't you?	Polite
order	Help me, can you?	quite friendly
	Help me, can't you?	quite friendly (some irritation?)
	Close the door, would you?	quite polite
	Do it now, will you?	less polite
	Don't forget, will you?	with negative imperatives only will is possible

Check out the video for examples of asking for clarifications!

References:

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-questions-tag.htm

http://www.zozanga.com/grammar/tagquestions.htm

http://www.eflnet.com/tutorials/tagquestions.php

http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/tag_questions.html