Asking For and Giving Advice — English Bac Lettres

Dans le programme du Bac Lettres

English is a major subject in the Bac Lettres stream, with a coefficient of 4 — second only to Arabic Language (coefficient 7) and ahead of History-Geography and Philosophy (coefficient 3). There is no Mathematics in the stream. The high coefficient raises the bar: richer vocabulary, more developed argumentative writing, and firmer control of register and style are expected, and the English mark genuinely shapes the average.

À l'épreuve

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing. In the Lettres stream the Writing task is longer and more demanding — a structured essay with a clear thesis, developed arguments on both sides, illustrative examples and a personal conclusion — and language accuracy and range are scored throughout.

Objectifs d'apprentissage

Produce this function at the right register in a dialogue-completion task on the Bac Lettres English paper (coefficient 4)
Ask for advice: What should I do? / What would you do (if you were me)? / Do you think I should…?
Give advice with should / ought to + base form
Give hypothetical advice with If I were you, I would…
Use softer suggestions: Why don't you…? / How about + -ing? / You could…

Notions clés

Asking for advice

What should I do? / What do you think I should do? / If you were me, what would you do? / Do you have any advice on…? — direct questions that invite a recommendation.

Giving advice with should / ought to

should / ought to + base form, for a clear recommendation: “You should talk to your teacher.” / “You ought to apologise.” The negative is shouldn't (“You shouldn't wait any longer.”).

Hypothetical advice: If I were you

If I were you, I would + base form — a common way to give advice by putting yourself in the other person's place: “If I were you, I would revise the grammar chapters first.” (second conditional structure).

Making and responding to requests

To make a request, use polite forms, from the least to the most formal: Can you help me, please? – Could you lend me your notes? – Would you mind opening the window? (followed by the -ing form) – Could you possibly give me a hand? – I was wondering if you could…. To accept: Sure. / Of course. / No problem. / Not at all (the answer to Would you mind…?, meaning « I don't mind »). To refuse politely: I'm sorry, but I can't… / I'm afraid I'm busy right now. In the communication section, match the register to the situation: a request to a teacher or an employer calls for Could you… or Would you mind…, not Can you….

Erreurs fréquentes

Using should + to: “You should to rest” is wrong — should is a modal, followed by the base form without to.

Saying “If I was you”: in advice, the fixed form is “If I were you” for all subjects.

Giving advice with must (obligation) when a recommendation is meant: should / ought to are softer and more appropriate for advice.

Exemple corrigé

Énoncé

A friend says: “I have failed two English tests in a row.” Give one piece of advice using should and one using If I were you.

Correction

Advice with should. A direct recommendation: “You should ask your teacher which points you keep getting wrong.”

Advice with If I were you. The same idea from your own standpoint: “If I were you, I would focus on one grammar chapter a week and practise it in writing.”

Result. Two well-formed pieces of advice, one with a modal, one with the second-conditional structure.

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3 exercices pour t'entraîner

Exercice 1

Easy

Complete: “You look exhausted. You ___ take a break.” (should / must / would)

Voir la correction

should — a recommendation, softer than the obligation must.

Exercice 2

Medium

Rewrite as advice with If I were you: “Talk to your parents about it.”

Voir la correction

“If I were you, I would talk to my parents about it.” — note were (not was) and would + base form.

Exercice 3

Hard

Correct: “If I was you, I will study harder and you should to see a tutor.”

Voir la correction

Three errors: “If I were you” (not was), “I would study” (not will) in the second conditional, and “you should see” (should + base form, no to). Corrected: “If I were you, I would study harder, and you should see a tutor.”

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Questions fréquentes

Is “If I were you” really more correct than “If I was you”?

In the fixed advice phrase, yes — “If I were you” is the form expected in Bac writing. “If I was you” is heard in casual speech but is marked as incorrect here.

What is the difference between should and had better?

should is general advice; had better is stronger and hints at a bad consequence if the advice is ignored: “You'd better leave now or you'll miss the train.”

How do I give advice more gently in a dialogue?

Use a suggestion form: “Why don't you…?”, “How about talking to her?”, “You could try…” — less direct than should, useful when the register calls for tact.

English is coefficient 4 in the Lettres stream — how do I revise it seriously?

Treat it as a core subject. For each of the 31 chapters, fix the rule or the word field with two solid examples, and write at least one full essay a fortnight under timed conditions. Read short English articles to build argumentative vocabulary and sentence variety, since range and accuracy are marked directly.

Why learn a spoken function for a written Bac Lettres exam?

Because it is tested in writing: dialogue-completion tasks ask for exactly these phrases at the right level of politeness. Keeping two or three set expressions per function, sorted by register, covers the task reliably.