Asking for and Giving Recommendations in English

Asking for and Giving Recommendations in English

Hello English learners! Welcome to a new lesson. In everyday life, we often ask other people for advice — about travel, restaurants, books, films, hotels, or even jobs. Knowing how to ask for and give recommendations politely and naturally is an essential communication skill, especially for speaking exams such as B2 First and C1 Advanced. Asking for and Giving Recommendations in English

Imagine you’re planning to visit a country you’ve never been to before. Your friends have already been there, so you ask them about places worth visiting, the best way to get around, or good (and affordable) restaurants. Let’s look at the most useful language for these situations.

Asking for recommendations

There are many polite and natural ways to ask for recommendations. You can ask in a general way or about something very specific.

Here are some useful phrases:

• Could you recommend a good restaurant in this area?
• Do you have any suggestions for a good book to read?
• Could you suggest a nice place to visit this weekend?
• Do you have any recommendations for a good film to watch?
• Could you advise me on a good hotel to stay at?
• I’d really appreciate it if you could recommend a reliable mechanic.
• Can you recommend a good recipe for a dinner party?
• Do you have any tips on finding a job in this field?
• Could you suggest a good workout routine for beginners?
• I’d love to hear your thoughts on a good skincare product.

All of these sound polite, natural, and appropriate in both everyday conversation and exams.

Giving recommendations

When giving recommendations, we often use verbs like recommend, suggest, advise, or expressions like you should and you might want to.

Here are some natural examples:

• I highly recommend trying this restaurant — the food is fantastic.
• You might want to read this book; it’s very insightful.
• If you’re looking for a good mechanic, I suggest going to this one.
• I think you’d really enjoy visiting this place — it’s beautiful.
• You should definitely check out this film; it’s one of my favourites.
• I’d recommend staying at this hotel; the service is excellent.
• This skincare product worked really well for me — you might like it too.
• I suggest trying this recipe; it’s always a hit at my dinner parties.
• For job hunting, I recommend using this website; it’s very helpful.
• This workout routine is great for beginners — you should give it a try.

Tips for giving good recommendations

When giving a recommendation, it’s a good idea to:

State your suggestion clearly

→ I highly recommend visiting the museum. It has an amazing art collection.

Share your personal experience

→ I’ve had a very good experience with this hairdresser.

Compare it with other options

→ Compared with other hotels, this one has better service and its own private beach.

This makes your recommendation more convincing and more natural — especially in speaking and writing exams.

Why this is useful for exams

This language is extremely common in B2 First speaking (Part 2 & 3), C1 Advanced speaking, as well as Informal emails, reviews, articles, and reports.

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