Advice vs Advise in Work Emails: Choose the Noun or Verb

Advice is the noun for guidance; advise is the verb. In a work email, write “Could you advise me on this?” or “Could you give me some advice on this?” Both can ask for guidance, but they use different sentence structures.

The distinction is about the word’s job in the sentence. Choosing the right spelling does not, by itself, make a request clear or considerate. The reader still needs to know what help you want.

Choose the form that fits the sentence

What you want to say	Example	Why it fits
Ask someone to guide you	Could you advise me on the file names?	Advise is the verb after could you.
Ask for guidance	Could you give me some advice on the file names?	Give is the verb; advice names what you want.
Thank someone for guidance	Thank you for your advice.	Advice is the noun after your.

Oxford’s advice entry identifies this guidance noun as uncountable. Use “some advice” or “a piece of advice.” For a number, use “two pieces of advice” rather than “two advices.” If you mean two specific ideas, “two suggestions” may fit too.

Oxford’s advise entry gives patterns such as advise someone on/about something. It also records a formal meaning of inform, as in advising someone of a change. This lesson focuses on asking for guidance, so that separate meaning does not need to enter the practice emails.

Does “please advise” work in an email?

“Please advise” uses the verb correctly. “Please advice” does not make the same request: the noun needs a verb such as give.

The surrounding message determines whether the request is useful. If the topic is unclear, add what you need help with: “Could you advise me on which details to include in the file names?” A specific question can also work without either word.

There is no need to treat “please advise” as always rude or always appropriate. Consider the relationship and context, then state the help you need. The guide to asking your manager for help covers explaining an unresolved task; here, we will practise the two grammatical forms.

Practice: ask for a naming approach

This situation is fictional. You are Jules, preparing names for new internal training-video files. Your colleague Anika has offered to suggest a naming approach. You want guidance on which details to include so colleagues can identify each video.

No deadline has been agreed, no attachment is supplied, and none of the video files has been renamed. You are asking for guidance, not approval or help with a technical fault.

Write a subject and a short email using advise before reading the model. Keep the question focused on the details to include in the video file names.

Here is one possible answer:

Subject: Advice on training-video file names

Hi Anika,

Thank you for offering to suggest a naming approach for the new internal training videos.

Could you advise me on which details to include in the video file names? I’d like colleagues to be able to identify each video from its name.

Best, Jules

The subject names the guidance, so it uses advice. The question asks Anika to guide you, so it uses advise. Both words can appear correctly in the same email.

Rewrite the same request with advice

Now rewrite the question using advice. Keep the same practical request and reason. Try it before looking at this alternative:

Could you give me some advice on which details to include in the video file names? I’d like colleagues to be able to identify each video from its name.

Here, give supplies the verb and some advice names what Anika would give. Simply changing “advise” to “advice” in the first model would leave “Could you advice me…”, which does not work.

These are alternative versions of the same request. Choose one for the email; you do not need to send both or repeat the question twice.

Editing task: thank Anika for her advice

Anika now gives you two suggestions: include the topic in each video file name and use a consistent date format. You plan to apply them, but you have not renamed the files yet. No particular date format has been specified in this exercise.

Correct this short reply before reading the alternative:

Thank you for your advise. I’ll use those two advices when I name the video files.

One possible revision is:

Thank you for your advice. I’ll use both suggestions when I name the video files.

Your advice names the guidance you received. Both suggestions refers to the two supplied ideas without making advice plural. “I’ll use” keeps the work in the future; “I’ve renamed the files” would claim something you have not done.

You could also write “Thank you for advising me.” That uses the verb’s -ing form after for. As with the request, moving from noun to verb changes the structure, not just the spelling.

For a broader editing routine, see business email English for non-native speakers. For more situations to write through, try the professional email writing exercises.

To practise writing your own replies, start practicing for free. EmailBetter sends workplace scenarios tailored to your profile to your inbox. You write your reply in your usual email app, then review AI feedback in your dashboard.