The words "advice" and "advise" can sometimes be confused. They have different meanings and are different parts of speech, but there is a relationship between their usage. There's also just one letter different in their spelling, so it's easy to see how using the wrong one in your writing can be a common mistake. How can you easily tell the difference between advice and advise?
The word advice is a noun. It means an opinion or recommendation that is offered as a course of action. Advice is pronounced with an ending sounding like "ice."
The word advise is used as a verb. It means to offer an opinion or suggestion, or formally provide information. Advise is pronounced with an ending sounding like "ize."
As these similarly meaning words are different parts of speech, the easiest way to tell the difference is to see some examples of advice and advise used in sentences:
As a noun, the word advice does not perform any action in the sentence. As a non-countable noun, you'll often see it after the word "some" or a possessive pronoun like "my:"
Advise is a verb, therefore, you will find it with the subject of the sentence performing the action of advising:
When the issue of advice vs. advise comes up a quick and easy tip to remember is that advise means to give advice. Some other tips to keep in mind regarding advice and advise are:
Once you know which part of speech you need to use in a sentence, deciding on the correct word is quite simple. End the confusion by remembering that you always use advice as a noun and advise as a verb.
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