Making Suggestions In English

Here are some common expressions we can use to make suggestions in English.

Why not…?

One way of making suggestions is to use the phrase Why not…?

• ‘Susie is really angry with me.’ ‘Why not send her some flowers?’
• ‘Sally is in the hospital.’ ‘Why not go and see her?’

Why don’t…? can be used in the same way.

• Why don’t you send her some flowers?
• Why don’t we go and see Sally?

Why + verb can be used to suggest that an action is pointless.

• Why ask him? He’s not going to help you.
• Why argue with him? He’s not going to change his mind.
• Why wait for her? She’s not going to come.

Let’s…

Use let’s to make a polite suggestion.

• Let’s buy something to eat.
• Let’s go for a walk.
• Let’s do it later.
• Let’s wait a bit longer.

You can make these suggestions sound more polite by adding the question tag Shall we…?

• Let’s invite Andrew, shall we?
• Let’s take a break, shall we?

Shall we / Shall I…?

Use shall we to see if other people agree with you.

• Shall we go and see Julie?
• Shall I get you something to drink?
• Shall we ask his opinion?