[Music] hi there this is harry and welcome back to our english lessons where we try to help you to get a better understanding of the english language to improve your vocabulary to improve your grammar introduce you to the use of verbs phrasal verbs expressions idiomatic expressions and remember you can always download me on podcast or you can watch me on the youtube but remember if you're looking at the youtube make sure you subscribe to that channel okay so what are we going to talk to you about today well today we're going to talk about suggestions okay so making suggestions in english and when we look at this we're going to look at the type of suggestions that you can make and then we're going to look at the responses that you might give in relation to positive responses or indeed negative responses okay so when you're talking about suggestions remember that they are only suggestions they're not obligatory you're not forcing somebody to do something you're not making it a must so we're not using language like you must or you have to okay so they're suggestions so often that the language that we use with them is quite indirect so you might see expressions like i think or why don't you or would you consider yeah so you're using indirect type of language and it's much easier it's more polite and it goes very well with the suggestions that you're making because like all suggestions people have a choice they can accept their suggestion or indeed they can reject it and decide to do what they wanted to do but after all it is only a suggestion a recommendation okay so let's look at those phrases for making suggestions i'll give them to you again first of all then we'll go down and look at a few examples i think you should would you be interested in i thought perhaps you might like i was thinking it would be nice a nice change if how or what about let's do your fancy shall we we might as well okay now as i said in all of these they are suggestions they are recommendations so the language is a little bit more indirect and a lot of the time we're using some modal verbs like should and would and these are classics when we're talking about suggestions and recommendations like i i think you should go to the doctor yeah so you're not saying you have to go to the doctor you must go to the doctor no it's i think you should go to the doctor a suggestion so i think you should i think you should go so when we use should it's always followed by the bare format of the verb it's not followed by ing and it's not followed ever by the infinitive to so it's the infinitive without to i think you should go to the doctor you're not feeling well i think you should apologize to the neighbor we made a lot of noise when we were doing the the redecoration and i think they were getting a little bit frustrated so i think you should apologize i think you should probably take a cup of coffee go into the room and think about what you wanted to say okay so suggestions and recommendations using should but not should too it's always you should go you should eat you should visit you should apologize you should wait so it's that infinitive without two next would you be interested in so they have lots of endings here would you be interested in going to the cinema would you be interested in going to the movies would you be interested in lend me 10 euro would you be interested in watching that new series on netflix so lots of ways we could suggest or recommend doing something the important thing here when we use would you be interested in it's followed by the verb with the ing so would you be interested in looking at would you be interested in going to the cinema would you be interested in lending would you be interested in buying would you be interested in eating sushi tonight yeah so always i-n-g i-n-g not the infinitive i-n-g and we use that modal verb would at the beginning would because you're not sure the person will agree so it's not will it's wood because there's a possibility they may or there's a possibility they may not agree to your particular suggestion so would you be interested in going to the movies on saturday i can get tickets that's your favorite actor is on you know how you like him and we could do with a good night out i thought perhaps you might like okay i thought you might i thought perhaps you might like two and again here we follow it with the infinitive i thought perhaps you might like to spend the evening at home for a change you're always going out i thought perhaps you might like to invite your mother around for lunch on sunday she hasn't seen the kids for ages and it's about time we got her out of the house i thought perhaps you might like to buy me that necklace that i was looking at and i showed you on the internet i would really love it i think it would go well with this dress don't you think man i thought perhaps you might like to do something to do to go to buy to watch i was thinking it was it would be a nice change if i was thinking it would be a nice change if what if we did this if we did that i was thinking it would be a nice change if we went on a holiday abroad this year i was thinking it would be a nice change if we bought that new sofa we saw in the shop window i was thinking it would be a nice change if we spent christmas on our own this year we're always going to my folks or your folks and you know it's about time we had our own traditions let's start our own traditions to be good be good for the kids to have a christmas around our own table and sure if you folks want to come why not they're they're free to come if they wish but i i was thinking it would be a nice change if we decided and after that so if we decided if we went if we could okay so just different ways in which we can use that phrase when want to make suggestions next how about or what about so how about going out on saturday instead of friday what about inviting your parents around for lunch on sunday monday's a bank holiday so we have a couple of glasses of wine we don't have to get up early for work on monday what about painting the room yellow would be nice and bright what about that car you saw are you really thinking of buying it yeah so how about what about and then again followed by by that ing how about painting how about buying how about inviting how about doing something i ng how about what about ing okay next it's very short just let's let's think about it let's go mad let's paint it purple let's invite all our friends around for a barbecue it'd be a great way to kick off the summer let's go away for the weekend that's just on the spur of the moment let's just throw a few things into a bag drive off and see where the road takes us and book something when we get there yeah why not let's do something spontaneous let's go wise let's do this let's take the children whatever it is it's a suggestion let's okay let's do this let's do that let's not fight no let's not argue ah let's agree on something here okay so let's do this let's do that and then a much more informal do you fancy and when we say to your fancy means would you like to so do you fancy going to the movies do you fancy calling in for a pizza on the way home do you fancy a night in by the fire it's a really cold evening and we could get one of those movies or indeed see if there's any new series on netflix we haven't watched it for ages do you fancy doing nothing yeah why don't we just stay at home do you fancy do your fancy going do you fancy doing do you fancy meeting okay so what have we got there yeah we've got the ing do you fancy going to your fancy meeting do you fancy doing absolutely nothing and then a little more polite or and very formal shall we shall we book that restaurant for next week shall we take a few days off and go on a holiday shall we invite the neighbors in for a drink they've moved in six months ago and we've hardly said hello to them shall we do something special for new year this year i'm sure there's going to be lots of celebrations now that the pandemic is finally over so lots of ways and say shall we now of course when we use shal we either use it with we or i we don't use it with shall you or shall he it's always shall i shall i open the bottle of wine shall we shall we go away for the weekend we promised we said we would so shall we do it this weekend and then finally when you have no choice or it appears that you have no choice and you say well we might as well there's nothing else to do or we might as well go to bed early i don't think they're going to turn up at this time so yes sitting in home you're not sure whether mike and his girlfriend are going to come around they said they might and they you know but you you know what those couple are like sometimes they do sometimes they don't so you know if they're not there by nine o'clock but they're not really going to come so we might as well go to bed we might as well start dinner the kids will catch up later on and if they're late they're late they can stick it in the microwave okay so we might as well you can also say we may as well because may and might are interchangeable so may might we can use both of them equally the same we might as well we may as well and what it really means is we don't have any other choice or it doesn't look as if we have any choice so if we've got nothing better well we might as well do that okay so they're the the phrases that we use when we're making suggestions okay so i think you should would you be interested in i thought perhaps you might like i was thinking it would be a nice change if how about or what about let's do you fancy shall we or we might as well so all the expressions and phrases for making suggestions so what we want to look at next is when how do we respond so somebody's made a suggestion so obviously they're expecting some sort of response and the response can be a positive response so indeed it could be a negative response so let's first of all look at those positive responses so again i'll give them to you and then we'll give you an idea as to how you might use them yeah that sounds like a great idea yeah that's not a bad idea brilliant oh count me in two yeah you're probably right sounds perfect that would be lovely it's a definite maybe from me it's a definite maybe okay so positive responses now how will we use them well that sounds like a great idea well i mean if it's a it's the best idea you've heard or you can't come up with anything better well you might as well go along with it and say yeah that sounds like a great idea why don't we book that restaurant we'll get there early and then who knows after that we might go and see if there's any of the guys or the gang around and we can have a quick drink before we come home yeah so everything would be perfect so yeah do you want me to book it or will you book it that sounds a really great idea let's do it that's not a bad idea so it's not perfect it's not perhaps the idea you really were hoping for but yeah you know it's not a bad idea it's um i'll give it a little bit more thought and yeah i think that that actually could work yeah that's not a bad idea so you've been looking to find a way of getting over a particular problem you haven't been able to come up with a suggestion yourself and then somebody suggests this particular way around it and then when you think about it yeah actually that's not a bad idea yeah i think you've got something there or i think you're on to something let's let's develop it a little bit more let's get the other guys in and let's see what they think so yeah that's not a bad idea or if you're absolutely blown away by the idea wow brilliant why didn't i think of that brilliant yeah that's just what we need a a weekend away get away from this weather get away from the city yeah let the kids go and stay with their granny should love it for a couple of days you and i will spend a couple of days walking on the beach this time of the year yeah we might get a bit wet but who cares yeah brilliant that's a wonderful suggestion count me in two yeah count me in two so it's a bit more of a relaxed response uh it's it's very positive count me in two means yeah you can rely on me i want to do that so you know you're on your mobile phone having a chat and the the guys are talking about going away for a game of golf or going off to watch a match and you know you just put the phone down yeah yeah count me into yeah i'll go i'll go i'm in so whatever the guys are doing you want to do it you know if you don't spend so much time with them these days so it's a good opportunity count me into means yeah include me in the number whoever's organizing the event you're probably right now this is not a wonderfully um exciting response but it depends on what intonation you put into it but if you if you're reluctantly uh agreeing to somebody's suggestion yeah you know you're probably right i i really didn't give it enough consideration perhaps i should have thought about it a little bit more before i responded but you know me i usually respond quickly but yeah i think you're probably really right when she comes home from school i'll apologize and i'll make it up to her everything will be okay you know the way she is so yeah you're probably right or something is really good and you you really can't see anything wrong with it yep sounds perfect perfect for me yeah that sounds just what we need yeah so yeah it sounds a perfect way i'll get the the paintbrushes we can have it painted by lunchtime and if it needs another culture i can i can do another coat of paint late on saturday or even on sunday yeah so yeah that sounds perfect to me oh that would be lovely yeah so a nice suggestion so why don't i cook lunch on sunday i'll invite your parents around i'll do roast beef and some potatoes and the the veg they always like a bit of that and you know you can either make that apple pie or we can buy one in the the bakery there you know dad really likes that and said oh yeah that that would be lovely i wouldn't have to cook you always cook the meat much better than i do yeah that's why why don't we do it it sounds lovely so it's a good idea a good suggestion something that everybody will and then the last one it's a definite maybe what do you mean it's a definite maybe you can't be definite and maybe well you know i gotta go home and i'm gonna ask the wife and you know she might so she might not agree i'll bring a bunch of flowers she'll definitely definitely agree with them so yeah put me down as a definite maybe definite maybe okay so they're positive responses that you might make so how about negative responses well of course when we talk about negative responses the the most negative way to respond to something is no a categorical no no i'm not interested i'm not doing that but sometimes just a plain ordinary no can come across as a little bit rude depending on of course how you say no or no yeah so you might want to say it in a slightly different way but the objective is the same you don't want to do it so here are some suggestions as to how you might be negative in your response i don't think so i'm not sure that would be appropriate no i'm not sure about that well i don't know to be honest it's not my cup of tea no not really um not keen on that idea no i'd i'd rather not i'd really rather not i'm sorry i really don't feel like it so a lot of it is about the intonation that you can put into it because when you give the correct type of intonation people will understand very quickly that the answer is no but you're doing it in a nice way a friendly way a polite way but you're still letting them know it's not going to happen i don't think so i don't think that's going to work i really don't see that working i just don't think so i mean i don't think this market is ready for that yet i just don't think so so you're not bowled over by the idea you're not something that you think is going to make a huge difference to to your life and perhaps it's going to be a lot of trouble and you're going to get nothing out of it i don't think so i'm not sure that would be appropriate yeah so somebody suggested that perhaps get together and go to the bar for a few drinks and then we'll go and have a meal together he said well are you sure i mean you know i think it's just a little bit early i'm not so comfortable so i'm not so sure that would be appropriate why don't we just invite a couple of them around here yeah i'm not so sure it's so appropriate now okay and i think i prefer just a couple of people rather than a big gang i'm not too sure about that so again you're expressing a little bit of negativity the suggestion i'm not so sure and you really mean no no i'm not so sure it'll work i'm not so sure it's the right time yeah i'm just not sure that i really understand what it's about so let me think about it let me mull it over let me uh sleep on it whatever way you want to try and you know persuade them that you need a little bit more time to think about it even though you're probably going to say no so i'm not sure about that well i don't know i just don't know i mean i've it's not something i'm comfortable with it's not something i've done before what what what if it goes wrong yeah what if we what if we lose our money yeah i just don't know to be honest it's not my cup of tea so the guys want you to go and play squash and then they want you to head off and go to a disco or a club ah you know i'm not a club guy i just don't like it it's not my scene it's not my cup of tea and to be honest game of squash ah no been there done that i don't really like it it's just not my cup of tea and then pause a very definitive no no not really yeah what do you think about that or your do you think it's going to work no not really i i i think we've tried that before many times and it it didn't work the first time so i don't know why we believe that it's going to work the second time so no not really i'm not i'm not going to support that as a as a suggestion sorry i'm not keen on that idea but why not i mean it's we could we could do with a holiday and let's we said we'd do something different yeah but camping i mean you don't like camping i don't like sleeping on the ground so how's it going to be fun i tell you what why don't we go to that log cabin we looked at did you want to buy the lake that that would be a much much better idea but no i'm not keen on that idea of camping no thanks no i'd rather not so a little bit more definitive in your negative response no i'd rather not do that in fact what i'd rather do is nothing i just fancy a nice calm quiet evening at home with the family no i'd rather not thank you or just a general i'm sorry look i'm sorry i really don't feel like it's uh perhaps another time yeah let's let's do it next weekend it's a long weekend there's a holiday on the monday so yeah we could even go away for a couple of nights but this weekend like i really just want to to rest up i've it's it's been a tiring few weeks since uh the the christmas holiday so yeah i really don't feel like it this weekend but yeah next weekend sounds great okay so you to say the suggestion isn't what you want now but it might be something that you want later on okay so negative uh responses to suggestions that people have made so what we've done then we've looked at ways of making suggestions and as you said a lot of the expressions are indirect and then we've looked at how you respond both positively and negatively so why don't you try some of them out see if they work for you make sure that you understand them if you don't come back to me and we can help and explain them again as always i really appreciate when you you join me so join me again soon