In Task 1 of the IELTS exam, you may be required to make suggestions or recommendations. These concepts are quite similar in that you are giving an opinion on what you think someone else should do or not do. So that we do not appear to be too interfering, we often use indirect phrases to make suggestions to others. For example, this would often not be appropriate, but would be better phrased as this. Recommendations are often stronger and more direct. For example, if you were recommending someone for a work position, you might say this. If you were writing a letter to a newspaper to recommend something, you could say this. Here is a short list of useful recommendation phrases you could use in a formal context.
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