There are a few ways to use the verb suggest, which I will cover in this video. So, I suggest that you grab a hot drink, get comfy and listen up!

Suggest is to tell somebody about a suitable person, thing, method etc. It’s a synonym for recommend

Suggest somebody/something for something

You can suggest somebody/something for a particular job or purpose.

Who would you suggest for the job?
I would suggest Rachel for the job.

Suggest somebody or something as something

Would you suggest Clive as project manager?
He suggested Paris as the perfect place to propose marriage.

Suggest + noun phrase

It is possible to use a noun phrase as the object of suggest:

Can you suggest a good movie?
May I suggest a red wine with this dish?
Why don’t you suggest our restaurant as a wedding venue?

Sometimes we need to mention who will receive the suggestion. In this case, we use a to-construction:

Why don’t you suggest our restaurant to her as a wedding venue.

A common mistake is to suggest someone something

Can you suggest me a good movie. (WRONG)

Can you suggest a good movie to me. (CORRECT)

Suggest + that-clause

If we want to suggest an action to someone, we can use a that-clause

I suggest that you arrive early for the show.

But in informal situations, particularly in casual conversations with friends, we often leave out the word that – it’s implied:

I suggest you arrive early for the show.

If the suggestion was made in the past, we can use should in the that-clause, particularly in British English.

The teacher suggested that the children should read at home every day.

Suggest + –ing form

Sometimes we want to suggest an action, but we don’t need to mention who will do it because the listener already knows. In this case we can use suggest with the –ing form of a verb.

I suggest getting a second opinion before having surgery.

For this, I could have said:

I suggest that you get a second opinion before having surgery.

But the other person knows I am talking about them, so I can cut out that you get and replace it with getting.

The same goes for the example I used earlier:

I suggest that you arrive early for the show.
I suggest arriving early for the show.

Both are correct!

Suggest + wh-question word

We can also use suggest with a question word such as where, what, who, how:

Can anyone suggest where we could have our party?
Can you suggest how I might contact them?
May I suggest what you need to do?

That’s all for today. Comments and questions can be left under the video on YouTube.

Until next time!