Advice is a noun: the opinion or suggestion someone gives you. Advise is a verb: the act of giving that opinion. The difference between advice and advise also shows up when you say them, because advice ends in an “s” sound and advise ends in a “z” sound.
A noun names a thing or idea. A verb is an action word that changes with time, like advise, advised, and advising.
Advice and Advise Side by Side
| Advice | Advise | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | Noun (a thing) | Verb (an action) |
| Final sound | “s,” rhymes with ice | “z,” rhymes with prize |
| Other forms | None in everyday use | advises, advised, advising |
| Words it pairs with | give, take, follow, ask for, ignore | advise someone to, advise against, advise on |
| Example | Her best advice for the interview: bring printed copies. | The pharmacist advised taking the tablets with food. |
Does “Some” or “Advised” Fit Your Sentence?
Two checks settle almost every case:
- Put some, my, her, or the in front. If it reads naturally, you need advice. In “Is that a vet’s advice, or something from a forum?” the word vet’s sits in front like a label. That’s why it’s always doctor’s advice, never doctor’s advise.
- Change the time. If advised or will advise works, you need advise. “Coaches advise against stretching cold muscles” can become “Coaches advised against stretching cold muscles,” so it’s the verb.
Hear a Z, Write an S
Say the sentence quietly. If the end of the word buzzes like a z, spell it with an s: advise. If it hisses like ice, spell it with a c: advice.
This works because the c in advice was chosen on purpose to mark that hissing sound. The history section below explains how.
“Advices,” “The Officer Advised,” and Other Uses That Look Wrong
Most guides stop at “noun versus verb.” Dictionaries also record a few older and workplace uses that seem to break that rule. Here’s which ones are standard.
| What you see | Correct or incorrect? | What dictionaries and guides say | What to write in everyday prose |
|---|---|---|---|
| “She gave me some advices.” | Incorrect | Advice meaning an opinion has no plural | some advice, two tips |
| “Can I give you an advice?” | Incorrect | Same reason: you don’t count opinion-advice | a piece of advice |
| “The bank sent a payment advice.” | Correct (business) | Advice can mean an official notice about a transaction | Fine in finance; “payment notice” for general readers |
| “Recent diplomatic advices” | Correct but old-fashioned | Advice can mean news sent from far away, often plural | reports, news |
| “The officer advised he was injured.” | Correct (formal) | Advise can mean inform, with no recommendation | said, told |
| “Please advise us of any change of address.” | Correct (formal) | Formal “inform” sense | Please tell us |
| “Please advice.” | Incorrect | Please needs an action word after it | Please advise |
| “advize” | Incorrect | Advise is always spelled -ise, in US and UK | advise |
| adviser / advisor | Both correct | AP uses adviser; many universities use advisor | Pick one and stay consistent |
When “Advices” Is Correct
In everyday writing, advice is uncountable: a noun you measure rather than count, like water or rice. You’d say “Two pieces of advice saved my first apartment search,” not “two advices.”
Advice has two other meanings, though. Merriam-Webster lists news or notice given, usually in the plural, and an official notice about a business deal, such as payment advices. Its example comes from Thoreau, who wrote of “the latest advices from Mexico.”
Even one dictionary disagrees with itself here. Dictionary.com defines advice as including “recent diplomatic advices,” yet its usage note says advice is never pluralized. Both can be right: the “no plural” rule holds for advice as an opinion, while the plural belongs to the notice-and-news meanings.
When “Advise” Just Means “Tell”
Advise has a formal meaning that has nothing to do with suggestions. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries marks it as formal and gives inform as a synonym.
- “Our landlord advised us of a water shutoff on Friday.” Nobody is recommending anything. The landlord is simply telling the tenants.
- Police reports use it the same way. One report quoted in the news reads, “Woods advised he has a limp and his ankle seizes while walking” (via Dictionary.com).
Plain-language writers push back on this use. An archived plainlanguage.gov list tells federal writers to swap “advised” for “told.” If nothing is being recommended, “tell” or “said” is usually clearer.
Writing “Please Advise” and “Kindly Advise” in Email
Please advise is the correct spelling, because please is followed by an action. “Please advice” is always wrong.
The phrase is old. Dictionary.com traces it to at least the 1700s and notes it became popular in telegrams, where every character cost money. It also notes that many readers today hear a bare “Please advise” as curt.
You’ll usually get a faster reply if you name the exact question:
- Vague: “The Friday deadline may slip. Please advise.”
- Clear: “The Friday deadline may slip. Can you confirm whether Monday works instead?”
Kindly advise is grammatically fine too. Readers differ on whether kindly sounds polite or stiff, so match the tone your workplace already uses.
Why American English Still Spells Advice and Advise Differently
People often guess this is a British-versus-American issue. For this pair it isn’t: both use advice for the noun and advise for the verb.
That makes advice and advise unusual. American English merged several similar pairs, while British English kept them apart.
| Pair | UK noun | UK verb | US noun | US verb | Do the noun and verb sound different? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| advice / advise | advice | advise | advice | advise | Yes |
| device / devise | device | devise | device | devise | Yes |
| prophecy / prophesy | prophecy | prophesy | prophecy | prophesy | Yes |
| practice / practise | practice | practise | practice | practice | No |
| licence / license | licence | license | license | license | No |
Look at the last column. When the noun and verb sound alike, American English usually spells them alike. When they sound different, as advice and advise do, American English keeps two spellings.
The history explains the pattern. Advice comes from an Old French word for “opinion,” built from a phrase meaning “it seems to me.” That phrase goes back to the Latin verb for “to see.” The d was added by scribes who liked Latin-looking spellings.
According to Etymonline, the noun switched from s to c in the 1700s. The goal was to keep its hissing sound and set it apart from the verb. Early Modern English often gave the verb -se and the noun -ce in look-alike pairs, which is where device and devise come from too.
Advice and Advise in Hospitals, Courtrooms, Travel, and Banks
These words carry set meanings in some fields:
- Hospitals. A patient who leaves before the doctor recommends discharge is said to leave against medical advice, or AMA. A research review puts this at about 1 to 2% of U.S. hospital stays, and the discharging doctor decides whether the label applies.
- Law and government. The U.S. Constitution gives the Senate a role of “advice and consent” on treaties. Police advise people of their rights, using the formal “inform” sense. A judge who takes a request under advisement is still considering it.
- Travel. “The airline advised passengers to arrive three hours early” is the everyday sense. Governments use the verb more officially. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to areas within 10 km of Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen, and warns that travel insurance could be invalidated if you go against its advice. In the U.S., advisory has meant a weather warning since 1936.
- Banks and shipping. A letter of advice is a document that notifies someone about a payment or a shipment. The term dates from the late 1600s.
- Workplaces. “The IT team advised everyone to turn on two-factor login” uses the plain “recommend” sense you’ll see most often.
Adviser or Advisor, and Why “Advize” Doesn’t Exist
The person who gives advice can be an adviser or an advisor. Both are correct. The Associated Press uses adviser, while many universities prefer advisor. Choose one spelling and use it throughout a document:
- My academic adviser suggested dropping the second elective.
The verb never takes -ize, even in American spelling. Advise belongs with advertise, devise, supervise, and surprise, which are spelled -ise everywhere.
If some, my, or the fits in front, write advice; if the word changes with time, write advise. Keep “advices” for bank notices and old dispatches. When you only mean “tell,” it’s usually clearer to say “tell” than to use the formal sense of advise.
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I’m Hazel, and I studied BSC English at GCUF. I focus on explaining word meanings in simple, clear language that anyone can understand. My goal is helping readers grasp everyday English, confusing terms, and slang used in real conversations and social media. I believe language learning works best when definitions connect to actual life situations. Through careful research and straightforward explanations, I make vocabulary accessible for students, learners, and anyone curious about how English really works in daily use.