What's the Difference Between Advice and Advise?

Defining 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."

Using Advice and Advise in a Sentence

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:

Advice

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:"

• You've done this before, please give me your advice.
• I need your advice on which car to buy.
• Her father gave them sound financial advice.
• She took my interview advice on board and got the job.
• Always get home improvement advice from an expert.
• What advice do you have for the first day of college?
• She always gives me advice on my relationships.
• My mom's advice was to always follow your dreams.
• He knows nothing about fashion, I never ask for his advice.
• Let me give you some advice, stay away from the edge of the cliff.

Advise

Advise is a verb, therefore, you will find it with the subject of the sentence performing the action of advising:

• I have to go to court and I need you to advise me in this matter.
• Please advise me on what to do when filling in this application.
• The teacher will advise the students of the risks before going on the field trip.
• I advise you to leave the bar before a fight breaks out.
• She had to advise the new staff on school safety procedures.
• If this is wrong, please advise me on the correct way to do it.
• I will advise the customer that the bill is past due.
• The young couple asked the realtor to advise them on which house to buy.
• If you ask, the boss will advise you on the best way to get it done.
• The doctor strongly advised him to quit smoking.

Remembering Proper Usage

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:

• Advice is the information or an opinion that you give or receive.
• Advise is what you do when you instruct or notify.
• If you need guidance, ask someone for advice on a matter.
• If you can give guidance, advise someone on a matter.

End the Confusion

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 (just like with license and licence in British English). Now, the only question left to answer is: Is advisor or adviser the correct spelling for someone who gives advice?