Advice & Suggestions

Declarative Statements

Declarative statements are utterances which announce something about the context in which the interlocutors are involved.  The key to this type of utterance being used as a strategy for giving advice is the inclusion of the intention of the hearer recognizing the statement and interpreting it as advice or a suggestion. 

For example, in a conversation between a tutor and a student, the tutor might say:

¡Ojo! Tienes bastantes errores.

(Stewart, 2004)

The intention of this statement suggests that the student correct the errors in order to improve.  These types of suggestions tend to occur when the person giving the advice is in a more powerful situation than the person receiving the advice (as in the example above) or between two people who have a close relationship.

Let's Practice!

In order to get a better idea of how this strategy is used for giving advice between two friends from Venezuela, let’s look at an example.  In these two parts of their conversation, Deya is giving María advice about her boyfriend.   For each clip, see if you can pick out the declarative statement(s) used to give advice.  If you need help, you can use the transcript, but you should try to fill in each strategy without help first.   

Clip 1

Clip 2

Question(s) & Negation

This strategy involves the use of questions and negation to give advice and make suggestions.  By asking the question (in the positive or negative form), the speakers inquires as to whether or not the person has done something and, in doing so, indirectly advises the course of action. 

Below are some examples of the types of questions used to give advice and make suggestions.  The cases with negation have been indicated. 

Persona 1:  ¿Te quieres sentar tú y…?
Persona 2:  Sí, no, pero prefiero, prefiero estarme…eso y luego ya me siento más tranquilita.
Persona 1:  ¿Por qué no lo dejas aquí y que se vayan echando?

Hernández-Flores (1999, pp. 45-46)

¿Por qué no traéis cisnes*?

Hernández-Flores (1999, pp. 44)

*swans

 

In both of these cases, questions are used for giving advice. 

 

Commands

This strategy tends to be used with people who are close or by speakers (person giving advice) who are in a position of power over the hearer (person receiving the advice).

For example, Deya uses a couple of commands in her conversation with María.  Play the clip below.  Can you find the command?

Clip 3

 

How do you feel about the use of commands for giving advice?  Is it something you would be comfortable doing?  Why or why not?

Imagine that you are giving advice to a close friend who is a native speaker of Spanish.  What do you think the effect might be if you do not use commands or direct inquiries?  Explain your answer.

Modifiers & Mitigators

Of course, not all advice that is given is direct and to the point.  Sometimes modifiers and mitigators need to be used in order to soften the suggestion or make it easier for the person to refuse or ignore the advice.  Some common mitigating strategies include:

By using playful or tentative intonation, the directness of the suggestion is reduced. Notice how Deya and María play with the intent of her advice to do yoga in the example below.  María even asks, ¿Pero tú me dices que haga yoga por la mañana o por la noche?  and Deya responds Todo el tiempo, indicting the extremeness of her advice.  In this situation, humor indicated by intonation is used to mitigate the real advice being given (i.e., María needs to relax and be more flexible).

Clip 4

Word Additions or Substitutions

For example, you could say:

Quizás podrías ….
Posiblemente
No sé que piensas tú, pero, ¿no sería buena idea…?

Mitigators are also used when the person giving the advice is not entirely sure if what he or she is asserting is the best course of action.  For example, in tutoring situations between native speakers of Spanish and nonnative speakers of English (Stewart, 2004), mitigating strategies are often used when advice is given about content or organization:

Quizás podrías reorganizar la introducción.

On the other hand, as we saw in the beginning of this section, when giving advice about grammatical errors (a topic that the native speakers feel authoritative about), the strategies are much more direct. 

¡Ojo!  Tienes bastantes errores.