Sunday, July 15, 2007

Making Suggestions with Should or Could

When I teach my ESL students the use of “should” when offering advice or making suggestions, I always mention how it might be better to use “could” instead of “should” to soften the suggestion or advice. For some reason, most Americans hate to be told what we should do. Some of us have this internal flinch that happens when we’re told what we should do.

So instead of “You should leave for work earlier so you won’t be late every day,” I would say, “You could leave for work earlier so you won’t be late every day.”

Or, "You could practice your English every day," vs. "You should practice your English every day."

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