So often in life, we want to suggest something to somebody, maybe to make an appointment, how to solve a problem, decide on what to do next etc. Strangely though, it is common to use phrases without a single mention of the word “suggest(ion)” anywhere.
Here are 6 ways to suggest in English:
“Shall we …. (do)*?”
“Why don’t we ….. (do)*?”
“Could(n’t) we …. (do)*?”
“How about ….. (doing)*?”
“Suppose we …. (do/did)*?”
“What if we…. (do/did*)?”
* Please notice that I showed you how any following verb would look. Is it in the infinitive form i.e. ‘do’ or gerund form i.e. ‘do + ing’? In the case of ‘suppose’ and ‘What if ‘you also see the ‘did’ form (‘simple past’ tense form) because you want to make your suggestion more ‘hypothetical’. Happy suggesting!
Strangely (komischerweise), “What if ….?” (Was wäre, wenn), “Suppose …..?” (Angenommen/gesetzt den Fall, dass), infinitive (Grundform), i.e. (d.h.)