BBC Learning English
How to …
Make recommendations – Quiz

How to …

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make recommendations - quiz

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For each question choose the one answer that makes a polite recommendation.

1:

You … change that image.

a: might want to
b: must want to
c: could want to


2:

I think you need… those images.

a: a changing
b: changing
c: to change

3:

… make the text a bit bigger.

a: What I would do is
b: What I could do is
c: What would I do is


4:

You could … .

a: look about the text style
b: think about the text style
c: look at change the text style

5:

You could… think about changing the image.

a: might
b: perhaps
c: may


6:

… it could be a little better.

a: It’s just that I think
b: I think just
c: I just,

How to …

© BBC Learning English 2008

Make recommendations - quiz

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ANSWERS

1:

You … change that image.

a: might want to
Correct – This is one way to make a recommendation.
b: must want to
Wrong – This is grammatically correct but ‘must’ is too strong for a polite recommendation.
c: could want to
Wrong – You can say ‘You could change that image’ but not ‘You could want to…’.


2:

I think you need… those images.

a: a changing
Wrong – Here, ‘need’ is followed by an infinitive with ‘to’.
b: changing
Wrong – You can say ‘Those images need changing’ but this sentence needs an infinitive with
‘to’.
c: to change
Correct – This is one way to make a recommendation.

3:

… make the text a bit bigger.

a: What I would do is
Correct – This is an informal way to make a recommendation.
b: What I could do is
Wrong – This is correct English, but it isn’t a recommendation. However, it is possible to say
‘You could…’.
b: What would I do is
Wrong – You need statement, not question, word order.


4:

You could … .

a: look about the text style
Wrong – You can’t use ‘look about’ here, although you can say ‘look at’.
b: think about the text style
Correct – This is one way to make a vague recommendation.
c: look at change the text style
Wrong – ‘look at’ needs to be followed by a noun or –ing verb.

How to …

© BBC Learning English 2008

Make recommendations - quiz

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bbclearningenglish.com

5:

You could… think about changing the image.

a: might
Wrong –You can’t have two modal verbs in a row.
b: perhaps
Correct – This is a good way to soften a recommendation.
c: may
Wrong – You can’t have two modal verbs in a row.


6:

… it could be a little better.

a: It’s just that I think
Correct – This is one way to explain your reasons politely.
b: I think just
Wrong – You can say ‘I just think’ but not ‘I think just’.
c: I just,
Wrong – You need a verb here.