Meaning & use
suggestions
Last updated
“suggestions” is a form of “suggestion”.
Meanings
nounplural
Ideas or plans that someone offers for others to think about or act on.
Grammar: Plural of a countable noun: she made two suggestions.
Patterns
- suggestions for something
- make suggestions
Do you have any suggestions for where we should eat tonight?
The manager welcomed suggestions from the staff.
I wrote down several suggestions for improving the website.
nounplural
Hints or slight indications that something may be true, without saying it directly.
Grammar: Often followed by of or that: suggestions of unfairness.
Patterns
- suggestions of something
- suggestions that something is true
There were suggestions of trouble between the two partners.
The report contains suggestions that the figures were wrong.
He noticed faint suggestions of a smile on her face.
Word forms
| singular | suggestion |
|---|
Common combinations
- make suggestions
- She made a few suggestions for the new schedule.
- welcome suggestions
- We welcome suggestions from customers.
- helpful suggestions
- Thank you for your helpful suggestions.
- suggestions for improvement
- The survey asks for suggestions for improvement.
- take suggestions
- The chef is happy to take suggestions about the menu.
- ignore suggestions
- Don't ignore suggestions from people who use the system daily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- proposals
- Proposals are more formal and detailed plans put forward for approval, while suggestions can be casual ideas.
- recommendations
- Recommendations come with a sense of authority or expertise, while suggestions are gentler and open to refusal.
- ideas
- Ideas is a general word for any thoughts, while suggestions are ideas offered to someone else.
- advice
- Advice is uncountable and tells someone what to do, while suggestions are countable and softer options.
Word family
- suggestion noun
- the singular noun
- suggest verb
- to offer an idea
- suggestive adjective
- hinting at something, sometimes improperly
- suggestible adjective
- easily influenced
- suggestively adverb
- in a way that hints at something
Commonly confused: suggestions or advice?
suggestions vs advice
Advice is uncountable, so you say some advice, while suggestions is countable, so you say some suggestions.
Practice
The team leader asked everyone to send in ___ for the party.
Choose one answer.
After in and with for, a plural noun is needed, so suggestions fits. Suggesting is tempting but is a verb form and cannot be the thing that is sent.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “suggestions”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.