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advice

[ ad-vahys ]
/ ædˈvaɪs /
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noun
an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct, etc.: I shall act on your advice.
a communication, especially from a distance, containing information: Advice from abroad informs us that the government has fallen. Recent diplomatic advices have been ominous.
an official notification, especially one pertaining to a business agreement: an overdue advice.

VIDEO FOR ADVICE

Advice vs. Advise

When to use advice and advise

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Origin of advice

1250–1300; late Middle English advise; replacing Middle English avis (with ad-ad- for a-a-5) <Old French a vis (taken from the phrase ce m'est a vis that is my impression, it seems to me) <Latin ad (see ad-) + vīsus (see visage)

synonym study for advice

1. Advice, counsel, recommendation, suggestion, persuasion, exhortation refer to opinions urged with more or less force as worthy bases for thought, opinion, conduct, or action. Advice is a practical recommendation as to action or conduct: advice about purchasing land. Counsel is weighty and serious advice, given after careful deliberation: counsel about one's career. Recommendation is weaker than advice and suggests an opinion that may or may not be acted upon: Do you think he'll follow my recommendation? Suggestion implies something more tentative than a recommendation: He did not expect his suggestion to be taken seriously. Persuasion suggests a stronger form of advice, urged at some length with appeals to reason, emotion, self-interest, or ideals: His persuasion changed their minds. Exhortation suggests an intensified persuasion or admonition, often in the form of a discourse or address: an impassioned exhortation.

OTHER WORDS FROM advice

pre·ad·vice, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH advice

advice , advise
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

ADVICE VS. ADVISE

What's the difference between advice and advise?

Advice is a noun that means guidance about what someone should do. Advise is a verb that means to give someone advice about something.

Despite their very similar spelling, advice and advise are pronounced differently. Advice rhymes with ice, while advise rhymes with prize.

Because the two words are so closely related, they are often used in the same contexts, so the challenge is simply to remember which spelling to use for the noun and which spelling to use for the verb.

Our advice? Remember that, unlike advise, advice never gets an s, even at the end (advice is a mass noun, so it’s never pluralized as advices).

Here’s an example of advice and advise used correctly in a sentence.

Example: I advise you to get some professional financial advice before you start a business.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between advice and advise.

Quiz yourself on advice vs. advise!

Should advice or advise be used in the following sentence?

If you want my _____, just ask.

How to use advice in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for advice

advice
/ (ədˈvaɪs) /

noun
recommendation as to appropriate choice of action; counsel
(sometimes plural) formal notification of facts, esp when communicated from a distance

Word Origin for advice

C13: avis (later advise), via Old French from a Vulgar Latin phrase based on Latin ad to, according to + vīsum view (hence: according to one's view, opinion)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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