IELTS Preparation Series 3, Episode 26: Giving Advice

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Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

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What should you do to stay healthy? This is a possible question in IELTS. How might you

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reply to such a question - what language choices do you have?

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The language function required is "giving advice". Today we'll look at language choices

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in English for giving advice.

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First, let's listen to someone giving advice about health:

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Having good health is something we all want. There are several things we should do to keep

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fit and healthy - eat well, exercise and get plenty of rest. If we have a good diet, lead

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an active life and get enough sleep, then we should stay healthy. If we get sick, then

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we need to manage our recovery. There is prevention, and there is cure - but prevention is better

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than cure.

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"Prevention is better than cure". This is a common saying that means it's better to

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avoid getting sick than trying to cure the sickness later.

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So what does our advisor recommend we do to prevent getting ill?

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There are several things we should do to keep fit and healthy - eat well, exercise and get

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plenty of rest. If we have a good diet, lead an active life and get enough sleep, then

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we should stay healthy.

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What sort of language does she use for giving advice?

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First she uses the modal verb 'should'. Listen again:

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There are several things we should do to keep fit and healthy - eat well, exercise and get

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plenty of rest.

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The word 'should' is used in a number of ways. Here it indicates advisability - there are

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several things we should do to keep fit.

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Listen to another use of should with this meaning:

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You should try to walk a couple of kilometres every day.

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The negative form "shouldn't" is often used to give advice about what not to do.

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There are three things that you shouldn't do. You shouldn't smoke, you shouldn't eat

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too much junk food and you shouldn't drink too much alcohol.

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There is another modal verb that is used in the same way as should, but is a more formal

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choice, ought.

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It's used by this man in an interview about immigration to Australia and its impact on

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the environment:

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It's an open question whether people are applying more strain on the environment if they're

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living in a flood plain in Bangladesh than if they're living in Australia. Secondly,

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I think that if you're worried about the environmental sustainability of the pattern of economic

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growth in Australia - and there are good reasons why you might be - then you ought to be looking

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at policies to reduce, say, carbon dioxide emissions, water usage, regardless of how

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many foreigners you let in or don't let in.

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"You ought to be looking at policies". You could also say you should be looking at policies.

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Advice is suggesting choices, so you don't use the word must. There is no choice when

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you say must - it's an obligation or something you have to do.

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Sometimes you need to suggest choices in a way that doesn't upset the person you are

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advising.

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Instead of saying 'You shouldn't smoke', you can express it as a question:

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Shouldn't you give up smoking?

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A more formal way of saying this uses the word oughtn't:

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Oughtn't you give up smoking?

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In the next clip, listen to another way of using should:

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If we have a good diet, lead an active life and get enough sleep then we should stay healthy.

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Here, should expresses the idea that this is likely to happen if the condition - having

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a good diet - is met. This is called a conditional.

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The negative form, shouldn't, is used in a similar way here:

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In any case, lead a healthy lifestyle and you shouldn't get sick.

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It is a common language feature to use conditionals when giving advice, like this:

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If we get sick, then we need to manage our recovery.

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If we get sick, then we need to manage our recovery.

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But you don't always have to use 'then' after the 'if' clause:

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If you feel unusually sick, you need to consult a doctor.

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And the 'if' clause doesn't need to be at the beginning of the sentence:

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You need to consult a doctor if you feel unusually sick.

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There is another structure in English using 'should':

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Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

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Here, should means 'if' - if you have any questions.

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It's a polite invitation which you will often hear on planes. The cabin crew might say to

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passengers "Should you require any help"

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Now listen carefully to all the advice and concentrate on what tense is being used for

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the verbs:

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Having good health is something we all want. There are several things we should do to keep

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fit and healthy - eat well, exercise and get plenty of rest. If we have a good diet, lead

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an active life and get enough sleep then we should stay healthy. If we get sick, then

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we need to manage our recovery. There is prevention, and there is cure - but prevention is better

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than cure.

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Make sure you have a balanced diet - don't overeat and don't eat the wrong foods. Eat

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plenty of fruit and vegetables for fibre, and get a good mix of proteins from fish and

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some meat, and reduce your intake of fatty food, sugar and salt.

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Exercise every day. You should try to walk a couple of kilometres daily. Playing sport,

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or going to the gym is an easy way to exercise your body. Exercise helps to relieve stress.

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You also need to rest. Health experts say we need about 8 hours sleep a night, but some

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people need less than this. If you feel unusually sick you need to consult a doctor. Avoid close

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contact with others when you are feeling unwell. Stay at home for as long as the doctor advises

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you. In any case, lead a healthy lifestyle and you shouldn't get sick.

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Did you notice that many of the verbs were the base form, such as avoid or stay. Listen

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again:

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Avoid close contact with others when you are feeling unwell. Stay at home for as long as

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the doctor advises you. In any case, lead a healthy lifestyle and you shouldn't get

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sick.

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This is called the imperative form and it's used for giving advice, and also to give orders.

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For example a teacher may say to a noisy class: Stop talking! Or Be quiet!

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You also use the imperative when you need to warn someone of danger: Watch out!

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There's one more use for the imperative and that's in instructions. In the essay section

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of the IELTS Test you will read: 'Write at least 250 words.'

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In recipes you often see the imperative, like this:

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Fry the prawns. Chop the leeks.

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Add the noodles.

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The negative form of the imperative has don't in front of it, like this:

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Make sure you have a balanced diet - don't overeat and don't eat the wrong foods.

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You'll hear this structure a lot in English. You might hear people, such as parents to

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their children, say:

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Don't forget to telephone. Or Don't get lost.

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Finally, you should know the difference between the words advice and advise.

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Listen to the way they are used by this woman talking about generation Y or gen Y:

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The baby boomers still like to have face-to-face meetings. They like to chat about certain

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things. A gen Y would be just as happy for you to send them a text message and advise

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them of a change of roster at work or they're quite happy to get advice about a new event

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that's occurring by text or SMS or even an email.

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Advise - spelled with an 's' - is the verb form. Send them a text and advise them of

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a change of roster.

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Advice - spelled with a 'c' and pronounced with a shorter 'i' sound - advice - is the

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noun. They're happy to get advice. Listen again:

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and advise them of a change of roster at work or they're quite happy to get advice about

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a new event that's occurring by text or SMS or even an email.

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That's all for now.

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For advice on the IELTS Test, visit our Study English website. We strongly advise it.

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Good luck with your studies. Bye.

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