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*I recommend you to …*

*I recommend you to …*

July 19, 2013 By Nestor 8 Comments

Many learners of English make the following mistakes:

*I recommend you to visit the museum*

*I recommend you to try the chicken soup*

In natural English, we do not use the structure *recommend somebody to do something*.

Instead, we say:

recommend (that) somebody do (= the subjuctive) something

Study the examples below:

I recommend you come a bit earlier next time.

I recommend you try the apple pie.

I don’t recommend you buy that computer.

I recommend they call me later.

We can use the same structure with the verb suggest:

I suggest you come a bit earlier next time.

I suggest you try the apple pie.

I don’t suggest you buy that computer.

I suggest they call me later.

However, with the verb advise, we use the structure:

advise somebody to do something

Examples:

I advised him to come a little earlier.

I didn’t advise him to buy that computer.

Filed Under: Typical mistakes in English

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gurmeet says

    January 6, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    it is new to my ears.thanks

    Reply
  2. khuzaimah says

    September 6, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    this info is very useful..it helps me a lot.

    Reply
  3. MiMa says

    September 17, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    Hi,
    very useful, thank you.
    How about these cases:
    1/ the 3rd person
    I recommend he…
    2/ in the past:
    I recommended you….

    Thank you!

    Reply
  4. P. D. J. Jaideep says

    February 4, 2016 at 4:40 am

    Oxford Learner’s Dictionary gives this sentence structure: recommend somebody to do something. For example, We’d recommend you to book your flight early.

    Reply
  5. ed the tourer says

    September 1, 2017 at 5:11 am

    how about
    I recommend them to buy a new car
    or
    I recommend they buy a new car?

    Reply
    • Nestor says

      September 29, 2017 at 11:30 am

      You can use both in speaking, but if in you’re in an exam or some other formal situation, use the second as it sounds more natural and correct.

      Reply
  6. Kian says

    October 15, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    What about the negative form ? Should we say
    I recommend you not to make the same mistake
    Or
    I recommend you not make the same mistake?

    Reply
    • Nestor says

      October 15, 2017 at 6:27 pm

      Yes, good question. I’d say “I recommend you not …” is technically more correct. But in normal speech, you can use both without sounding too unnatural.

      Reply

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