How to use " Suggest" correctly

 

Using suggest correctly is not easy because it is not used as other verbs. It means ” offering an idea or proposing an idea for consideration”We have to remember that it is never followed by an indirect object pronoun, a personal object (me, us, you, …), and it is never followed by an infinitive. So, we cannot say something like:

• I suggested you to buy a new house.

However, there are different ways of saying this. We’re going to see the structures we can use, and I will also include other examples that will help us understand it better . Suggest is most commonly followed by a that-clause in which the subjunctive is used:

1. Suggest (that) someone do something. 

• I suggested (that) you buy a new house
• My parents suggest (that) I study harder to get higher marks.
• We suggest  (that) she learn French.

It is important to remember that in the subjunctive form, the verb does not change depending on the subject. The subjunctive is just the base form of the verb.

• Our teacher suggests (that) we not waste time studying something we don’t really like.

2. Suggest (that) someone SHOULD do something.

• I suggested (that) you should buy a new house.
• My parents suggest (that) I should study harder to get higher marks.
• We suggest (that) she should learn French.
• Our teacher suggests (that) we should not waste time studying something we don’t really like.

    3. Suggest doing something

If we write a verb after suggest, it has to be a gerund, never an infinitive. Some people think that if we use “Suggest doing something”, the subject will do what is suggested, but not necessarily. Therefore I can say:

• I suggested going to the cinema.
• I suggested your buying a new house.
• I suggested to you buying a new house.

In the last two examples, I use “your” (possessive pronoun) or “to you”, to indicate the subject of the verb “buying”. Whereas in the first sentence,  I will probably go to the cinema with the others.

• My parents suggest my studying harder to get higher marks.
• We suggest her learning French
• Our teacher suggests our not wasting time studying something we don’t really like.

4. Suggest something

In this case there is no verb after suggest, and normally we use it when we speak directly to someone, so there is no need to say who you are talking to.

• Will you suggest a good way of learning a language?
• I suggested different forms of communicating with them.