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Suggest and Recommend

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Common mistakes

  1. (NG) I recommend him to go there.
    1. (OK) I recommend he go there.
  2. (NG) She suggested to me to call her.
    1. (OK) She suggested I call her.

Grammar words and phrases in context

Jack went to the doctor last week. The doctor suggested Jack drink less coffee. So Jack went home and told his wife. She recommended drinking tea instead of coffee in the morning. If I were Jack’s doctor, I would also suggest tea instead of coffee.

Unlike most verbs, suggest and recommend are not followed by an object followed by the infinitive. There are three patterns we can use with suggest and recommend.

We use suggest and recommend followed by a noun.

  1. If you like pizza, I suggest Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  2. The man in the bookstore suggested this textbook.
  3. Many doctors recommend aspirin for headaches.

We also use suggest and recommend followed by a gerund.

  1. If you like pizza, I suggest eating at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  2. The personal trainer suggested using the treadmill for cardio training.
  3. Many doctors recommend taking aspirin for headaches.

We also use suggest and recommend followed by that and a subject and verb. In conversational English, we often drop that.

  1. If you like pizza, I suggest (that) you eat at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  2. The personal trainer suggested (that) I use the treadmill for cardio training.
  3. Her doctor recommends (that) she take aspirin for headaches.

Usually, in American English, the base verb is used regardless of the subject, even if the subject has the third-person he, she, or it.

  1. I suggest you eat at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  2. I suggest she eat at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  3. I recommend he eat at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
  4. I recommend Jack eat at Lombardi’s on Spring Street.

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