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“Advise” vs “advice”

What is wrong with the statement "Please advise on this..."? Word suggests to change it to "Please advice on this...".

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Does it make this as a spelling (red underline) or grammar (green underline) suggestion? – Sparr Oct 8 '12 at 19:33
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As far as I know and FWIW, 'advice' is a noun while 'advise' is a verb: thus "please advise ..." is correct. – Carlo_R. Oct 8 '12 at 19:35
Isn't advice used for both in AmEng? – Barrie England Oct 8 '12 at 19:44
@BarrieEngland: No, 'advice' is not used for 'advise'. 'advice' is always a noun and 'advise' is always a verb in AmEng. – Mitch Oct 9 '12 at 0:29
@Mitch: Then I must have been thinking of 'practice'. (But if one, why not the other?) – Barrie England Oct 9 '12 at 6:17
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marked as duplicate by coleopterist, tchrist, FumbleFingers, Mitch, MετάEd Oct 9 '12 at 4:27

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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

Word is mistaken here. You are using "advise" as a verb, as it is an action you are asking someone to take. "advice" is a noun, and is the thing they will give to you. Your usage is correct.

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Advice_vs_Advise

http://www.translegal.com/common-mistakes/advise-vs-advice

http://www.learnenglish.de/mistakes/advicevsadvise.htm

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Its a green underline... – Walrus Oct 8 '12 at 19:58
up vote 1 down vote

Per @Walrus' comment on my other answer, it seems you're encountering a green underline here, which means this is a grammar suggestion (as opposed to a spelling correction, which would be a red underline). In this case, the entire sentence, and even parts of the sentence before and after if there is unusual punctuation in use, can lead to the suggestion. Word has become confused about what part of speech is expected in that position, probably because "please" and "on" both have alternate meanings which could lead to a noun appearing between them.

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up vote 0 down vote

Some people say "Advice please on this ..." as a shortening of "Please give me advice on this ..." where advice is a noun.

But as a verb it is usually spelt advise as in "Please advise (me) on this ...".

Word may be confused between these.

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