Giving Advice with ‘If I Were You’

Ever wondered how to make advice sound gentler?

Notice

  • If I were you, I’d talk to her.
  • I would take the job if I were in your position.
  • If you asked me, I’d say wait a little longer.

Rule

“If I were you, I would…” is one of the most common ways native speakers give advice — it sounds softer and more personal than “You should…”. It’s the Second Conditional doing a very practical, everyday job.

Practice

  1. If I ___ you, I ___ (accept) the offer.
    Answer: were / would accept
  2. If she asked for my advice, I ___ (tell) her the truth.
    Answer: would tell
  3. What ___ you ___ (do) if you were in my situation?
    Answer: would / do
  4. If I ___ (be) in charge, I would change the schedule.
    Answer: were
  5. I ___ (wait) a bit longer if I were you.
    Answer: would wait

Connect

Practise building gentle advice sentences with our Sentence Builder.

Try Sentence Builder →

CEFR: Spoken Interaction — give and respond to advice in everyday conversation.

Azizul Hakim
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