dangauss
Member
- Joined
- May 7, 2011
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Grammar Stuff: How to use “recommend” and “suggest” correctly
Many foreign students totally use the verbs “to recommend” and “to suggest” incorrectly.
A student will often say: He recommended me to go to the Metropolitan Museum.
No! No! No!![Oops! :oops: :oops:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Never use an object pronoun after recommended or suggested. It sounds TERRIBLE to a native English speaker. Really terrible! :roll:
There are two ways to use “to recommend”: 1) He recommended the Metropolitan Museum to me. Or 2) He recommended that I should go to the Metropolitan Museum.
So it is: Subject + recommended + object + to + pronoun
Or
Subject + recommended + that + pronoun + should + infinitive verb etc.
Examples: I recommended that he should try the sushi at that Japanese restaurant. We suggested that they should try to get home by midnight because the bus stops running at that time.
recommended that…should suggested that…should
If you just remember that recommended or suggested should always be followed by that and then should you will never go wrong. He recommended that my friend should visit Northern Avenue in Flushing if he wants to get good Korean food. I recommended that he should go to the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday because it is free day there. They suggested that we should avoid going to certain areas of the Bronx because they have been neglected by city hall and are very dangerous.
You can also ask: Can you please recommend a place where I can find a reasonably priced Korean restaurant? (Here recommend is followed by a direct object)
Would you recommend that I should eat at this restaurant? Did he recommend that you should go to the Film Forum to see the Hitchcock film?
Many foreign students totally use the verbs “to recommend” and “to suggest” incorrectly.
A student will often say: He recommended me to go to the Metropolitan Museum.
No! No! No!
Never use an object pronoun after recommended or suggested. It sounds TERRIBLE to a native English speaker. Really terrible! :roll:
There are two ways to use “to recommend”: 1) He recommended the Metropolitan Museum to me. Or 2) He recommended that I should go to the Metropolitan Museum.
So it is: Subject + recommended + object + to + pronoun
Or
Subject + recommended + that + pronoun + should + infinitive verb etc.
Examples: I recommended that he should try the sushi at that Japanese restaurant. We suggested that they should try to get home by midnight because the bus stops running at that time.
recommended that…should suggested that…should
If you just remember that recommended or suggested should always be followed by that and then should you will never go wrong. He recommended that my friend should visit Northern Avenue in Flushing if he wants to get good Korean food. I recommended that he should go to the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday because it is free day there. They suggested that we should avoid going to certain areas of the Bronx because they have been neglected by city hall and are very dangerous.
You can also ask: Can you please recommend a place where I can find a reasonably priced Korean restaurant? (Here recommend is followed by a direct object)
Would you recommend that I should eat at this restaurant? Did he recommend that you should go to the Film Forum to see the Hitchcock film?