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TOEIC Link Part 5: advice versus advise

Advice and advise look almost identical but belong to different word classes. Advice is a noun meaning a recommendation or guidance. Advise is a verb meaning to recommend or to inform. Part 5 exploits the one-letter spelling gap and the c/s sound shift, but the slot — a thing you give versus an action you do — decides which word is correct.

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TOEIC Link Part 5: advice versus advise

Advice and advise are separated by a single letter, yet they sit in different grammatical boxes, and Part 5 loves pairs that look the same but behave differently. Advice is a noun meaning a recommendation or guidance. Advise is a verb meaning to recommend something or to inform someone. The spelling gap (c versus s) is small and the words sound nearly alike, so the only reliable signal is the grammar of the slot. For the broader skill of answering by sense and word class rather than by sound, see word choice versus word form.

The core rule: a thing versus an action

  • advice is a noun meaning a recommendation or guidance: Thank you for your advice. / She gave me sound advice. / We followed the consultant's advice. It ends in a soft "s" sound (rhymes with ice) and is uncountable — never an advice or advices.
  • advise is a verb meaning to recommend or to inform: I advise you to confirm the booking. / Please advise us of any changes. / The lawyer advised caution. It ends in a "z" sound (rhymes with wise).

A memory hook: advice is a thing, like ice — you can hold it, give it, take it. advise is what a wise person does. The noun has the c; the verb has the s and the action.

How to read the slot

  • Blank follows an article, an adjective, or a possessive → advice (noun). In good (blank), your (blank), a piece of (blank), the slot names a thing, so it is advice.
  • Blank is the action of the sentence → advise (verb). In we (blank) clients, please (blank) the team, they (blank) against it, the slot is something done, so it is advise.

The fastest test: if the slot is a thing you can give or receive, choose advice; if the slot is an action of recommending or informing, choose advise.

Common Part 5 traps

  • The part of speech is the giveaway. Only advise is a verb. If the slot follows to, a modal (will, can, should), or a subject doing the action (the agent could (blank) you), the noun advice cannot fit.
  • A determiner before the slot points to advice. Words like the, some, expert, financial, or their before the blank signal a noun, so the answer is advice: their financial (blank).
  • "Please advise" is a fixed business formula. Emails often end Please advise meaning "please let us know." This is the verb, never advice. Treat Please advise as a memorized phrase so it never trips you.
  • Advice is uncountable. A blank after a, an, or a plural marker will not be advice on its own; you would need a piece of advice. Watch for advices as a wrong option — it does not exist in standard English.

Quick check

Decide whether the slot names a thing or names an action, then choose.

  1. We strongly (blank) all applicants to read the guidelines first.
  2. The mentor offered practical (blank) on managing deadlines.
  3. Please (blank) us as soon as the shipment arrives.
  4. Their legal (blank) saved the company from a costly mistake.

Answers: 1. advise (verb, recommend) 2. advice (noun, guidance) 3. advise (verb, inform) 4. advice (noun, a thing).

The takeaway

Advice and advise are a one-letter trap, so read the slot rather than the spelling: a thing you give or receive is the noun advice; an action of recommending or informing is the verb advise. For more confusable pairs the slot decides, see loose versus lose and principal versus principle.