What is the meaning of please advise?
“Please advise” is a phrase that means the sender is seeking advice or input on a specific matter. It is commonly used in business emails and letters. While polite, overuse can seem impersonal. Providing context helps clarify the feedback needed.
No matter how seasoned we become in our professions, we still need to seek advice from others. We mainly do this by using the phrase “please advise.”
Although most of us make use of this expression in email writing, we could still get confused as to how to apply it in other contexts every once in a while.
So, we have prepared a list of sentence patterns wherein “please advise” can be effectively used.
- Please advise on [this matter/how to proceed/the next steps/the status]
- Please advise your [availability/convenient date and time/current period notice/ approval]
- Please advise me [on the following/if I am wrong/for further action/accordingly]
- Please advise the [payment status for/next course of action/delivery date/best time]
- Please advise if [otherwise/you have any concerns/anything else is required/this will suffice]
- Please advise as [necessary/to the status/to whom/as to whether]
- Please advise us [immediately/ahead of time/at your earliest convenience/on ways to improve]
- Please advise should [any questions arise/you have any clarifications/you need further assistance/there be any changes]
- Please advise and [confirm/comment/review/suggest]
- Could you please advise [on how to proceed with/whether you agree/me on this matter/on how to resolve]
Understanding the expression “please advise” a bit deeper
“Please advise” is a commonly used phrase in business correspondence, especially for internal communication purposes.
Internal communication means the act of talking and writing between and among employees and employers who work for the same organization.
As the expression is not limited to that context alone, it is also possible to use it in exchanges between students and teachers, and others.
By and large, “please advise” is different from “please be advised” in terms of the point of view of the one using the expression.
“Please advise” is what a person who is seeking advice would use, while “Please be advised” is what the advice-giver would say or write.
So, it follows that the one using “please advise” often makes use of a more consultative tone in the exchange.
Take note that “advise” is a verb, and it has to be spelled with the letter “s” before “e.” Meanwhile, “advice” is a noun and should be spelled with the letter “c.”
In email writing, there is a multitude of ways in which we can use “please advise.” Some of these structures are applicable in many different situations.
Listed below are the most common expressions used together with “please advise” with examples for contextualization:
10 Ways to Use “Please Advise” in Email Writing and Business Correspondence
1. Please advise on [this matter/how to proceed/the next steps/the status]
“Please advise on” is something that is usually followed by a noun phrase or clause, as “on” is a preposition.
“Please advise on this matter,” “Please advise on how to proceed,” “Please advise on the next steps,” and “Please advise on the status” are some of the popular patterns that we can observe in email writing.
Please advise on this matter
Direct and simple, “please advise on this matter” is used for referring back to a previously-described event or issue.
Example:
Please advise on how to proceed
“Please advise on how to proceed” is a great introductory statement if we want to know the next steps to take in relation to a concern.
Example:
Please advise on the next steps
Example:
Synonymous with “please advise on how to proceed,” “please advise on the next steps” is simply a less formal version of the expression.
Please advise on the status
Example:
For task and job application updates, “Please advise on the status” is a great introductory phrase to use.
2. Please advise your [availability/convenient date and time/current period notice/ approval]
The determiner “your” should also be followed by a noun phrase to modify. Not using a noun phrase after “your” would make the sentence ungrammatical.
“Availability,” “convenient date and time,” “current period notice,” and “approval” are some of the expressions that often come after “please advise your.”
Please advise your availability
To check for someone’s available time, we can simply make use of “Please advise your availability…” in email writing.
This expression is best used when we intend to book a call or meeting with the recipient of the message.
Example:
Please advise your convenient date and time
To be more specific in terms of booking a meeting, we can also do this politely by saying, “Please advise your convenient time and date.”
Example:
Please advise your current period notice
For schedule policy-related concerns, we can use “please advise your notice period.” This works well in questions related to contract or agreement terms.
When seeking approval on a suggestion, plan, or report, the phrase “please advise your approval” works really well.
Example:
Please advise your approval
Example:
3. Please advise me [on the following/if I am wrong/for further action/accordingly]
If you want to specify that it is you, and not someone else, who is seeking advice from a person, then you should use “please advise me.”
“Please advise me” can be followed by “if I am wrong,” “for further action,” or “accordingly” in email writing.
If we have several items on our list of concerns, “Please advise me on the following…” is a great expression to use.
We can use a colon after this introductory phrase and list down our concerns in bullet or number format.
Please advise me on the following
Example:
Please advise me if I am wrong
For clarifications related to the understanding or interpretation of a task, announcement, or instruction, we can use the pattern “Please advise me if I am wrong.”
Example:
Please advise me for further action
If we have already completed a task or responsibility, and we need to know the next thing to do, we can say “please advise me for further action.”
As this expression is formal, it inarguably works well when communicating to a superior or any other authority figure.
Example:
Please advise me accordingly
“Accordingly” is an adverb that suggests the meaning “appropriately” or “correspondingly.”
That said, “please advise me accordingly” is a great expression to use when seeking guidance about a particular request or concern.
Example:
4. Please advise the [payment status for/next course of action/delivery date/best time]
As “advise” is a transitive verb, it needs an object afterward to function fully. That said, a noun phrase should always come after the article “the” in “please advise the.”
Phrases like “payment status,” “next course of action,” “delivery date,” and “best time” often come after the article “the.”
Please advise the payment status
People may not necessarily remember all the information pieces they receive in a day or a week. This means emails can get lost in the virtual world from now and then.
Payment-related follow-up emails are especially tricky to execute because of the sensitivity of the subject.
When this is the case, we can simply follow up on invoice payments by using “please advise the payment status,” which is formal and non-confrontational.
Example:
Please advise the next course of action
When asking for the succeeding steps concerning a task or event, “please advise the next course of action” is a formal phrase to use.
With its high degree of formality, it works really well in bottom-top communication between a subordinate and a superior.
Example:
Please advise the delivery date
If you want to know the delivery schedule of your ordered package or parcel, the phrase that fits this is “please advise the delivery date.”
Example:
Please advise the best time
Meanwhile, another polite way of asking for someone’s availability is by using “please advise the best time…”
Example:
5. Please advise if [otherwise/you have any concerns/anything else is needed/this will suffice]
To convey conditions, we normally make use of the conjunction “if.” “If” suggests the possibility of an act or event.
“If” is commonly followed by expressions like “otherwise,” “you have any concerns,” “anything else is required,” or “this will suffice.”
Please advise if otherwise
As our interpretation of a given piece of information may not always align with the giver of the message, we need to clarify things to make transactions smoother.
One effective expression to make use of when this happens is “Please advise if otherwise.” An example is provided below to see how it works.
Example:
Please advise if you have any concerns
If we want to know whether the other person clearly understands what we mean, or we simply want to offer further assistance, “Please advise if you have any concerns” is a suitable expression to use.
Example:
Please advise if anything else is required
Another great further assistance prompt is “Please advise if anything else is required.” Very formal in its own right, we can never go wrong with this expression.
Example:
Please advise if this will suffice
If we want to know whether what we have done or submitted is enough, we can say, “Please advise if this will suffice.”
This works well in contexts related to task or report completion, and it could also be used when giving instructions or definitions of concepts.
Example:
Please advise if this will suffice, and please let me know if you have any questions about the details.
6. Please advise as [necessary/to the status/to whom/to whether]
In “please advise as,” “as” generally conveys the same meaning as “concerning x” or “about x.”
However, it could also be used as an adverb to suggest the extent or degree of something, which typically is an adjective just like “necessary.”
“Necessary,” “to the status,” “to whom,” and “to whether” are some of the most widely used expressions that come after “please advise as.”
Please advise as necessary
If we do not want to impose on seeking advice immediately, the expression “please advise as necessary” is really appropriate.
Example:
Please advise as to the status
A bit wordy yet highly formal in tone and structure, “please advise as to the status…” is something we can use with sensitive issues like those related to complaints.
Example:
Please advise as to whom
Meanwhile, if we want to be guided in communication-related contexts, “please advise as to whom…” is something that we can easily use.
This one is great for asking about communication channels, particularly a person to whom a concern is intended for.
Example:
Please advise as to whether
Another great formal phrase we can use for issue clarification is “Please advise as to whether…”
A complete clause that explains the issue in detail is expected to come after the word “whether” in this sentence structure.
Example:
7. Please advise us [immediately/ahead of time/at your earliest convenience/on ways to improve]
If you want to refer to your whole team or department, it would be great to use “please advise us” instead.
Adverbial phrases related to time, like “immediately,” “ahead of time,” “at your earliest convenience” usually come after “please advise us.”
Not limited to that, “on ways to improve” may also come after it.
Please advise us immediately
Immediate actions are also necessary for making businesses work. As this is quite a demanding task, there is a need to be extra careful with our language use.
“Please advise us immediately” conveys extreme necessity but with a polite tone because of the word “please.”
Example:
Please advise us ahead of time
For preparation-related measures, the expression “please advise us ahead of time” works quite nicely.
We can use it when we want to ask for estimated details regarding target execution dates as well as task deadlines in advance.
Example:
Please advise us at your earliest convenience
To make requests more polite yet assertive at the same time, “please advise us at your earliest convenience” bodes quite well.
Example:
Please advise us on ways to improve
When seeking advice from subject matter experts, “please advise us on ways to improve” is one of the best expressions to use.
This works well in contexts that entail careful attention because the root cause is quite sensitive, just like the next example.
Example:
8. Please advise should [any questions arise/you have any clarifications/you need further assistance/there be any changes]
“Should” may also be used in place of “if.” We do so to make “if” more polite or less demanding in tone.
“Any questions arise,” “you have any clarifications,” “you need further assistance,” and “there be any changes” are the expressions that typically come after “please advise should.”
Please advise should any questions arise
To offer further assistance using “please advise,” we can also use “please advise should any questions arise.”
Here is the list of my department’s needed office supplies for the month. Please advise should any questions arise.
Please advise should you have any clarifications
If the information sent contains some complexity, it is needless to say that we should offer further clarification assistance.
When this is the case, “Please advise should you have any clarifications…” is a great introductory expression to make use of.
Example:
Please advise should you need further assistance
Still related to offering further assistance, “Please advise should you need further assistance” is clearly a straightforward expression to use.
Example:
Please advise should there be any changes
If we want to get informed about future updates, “Please advise should there be any changes” is a nice closing expression to use in our email.
Example:
9. Please advise and [confirm/comment/review/suggest]
Other times, we also want to use another verb after “advise,” especially if our request entails multiple actions from the message receiver.
We often use “please advise and confirm,” “please advise and comment,” “please advise and review,” and “please advise and suggest” in this situation.
Please advise and confirm
Easy to understand, “please advise and confirm” is something we could make use of when our concern needs both consultation and confirmation of receipt.
Example:
Please advise and comment
Meanwhile, if we only need the other person to provide a piece of feedback regarding a reported issue, “please advise and comment” is more suitable.
Example:
Please advise and review
If our raised concern is something that needs both guidance and investigation, “please advise and review” is what we should use instead.
Example:
Please advise and suggest
Astoundingly clear and simple, “please advise and suggest” is the go-to expression for guidance and recommendation-related concerns, especially solution-based ones.
Example:
10. Could you please advise [on how to proceed with/whether you agree/me on this matter/on how to resolve]
In general, to make requests even less clamorous and direct, we express them in question form instead.
To do this with “please advise,” we add the phrase “could you” in front of it. “On how to proceed,” “whether you agree” “me on this matter,” and “on how to resolve” often come afterward.
Could you please advise on how to proceed with
Asking about job application updates can be a bit of an intimidating task. That is because we do not want to be “too persistent” not “too indifferent” about it.
Job application processes can differ from one organization to another. With this in mind, job application statuses can also be tricky to understand.
What we can do to resolve this is to read and understand the meaning behind different job application statuses that are used by employers.
To make this task simpler, we can also just make use of the polite question, “Could you please advise on how to proceed with the application?” to know the answer.
Example:
Could you please advise your availability
Meanwhile, “Could you please advise your availability?” is something we use for politely asking about another person’s free time.
We mainly use this question in booking calls, video conferences, or even face-to-face meetings with other people.
Example:
Could you please advise whether you agree
In case we want to know the other person’s opinion or decision concerning a task, issue, or plan, we can make use of “Could you please advise whether you agree…?”
Example:
Could you please advise on how to resolve
Last but not least, we can also use the pattern “Could you please advise on how to resolve…?” if we are consulting something related to problem solutions.
Example:
Frequently Asked Questions on “Please advise”
Should it be ‘please advise’ or “please advice”?
The verb form is the one spelled with the letter “s” or “advise.” So, the grammatically correct expression is “please advise” and not “please advice” because “advice” is a noun.
What does “please advise on how to proceed” mean?
“Please advise on how to proceed” is an expression that simply means “please tell me the next steps to take” or “kindly let me know what to do next.”
What is a formal and casual way of saying “please advise”?
We can increase the formality of “please advise” by asking the question “could you provide your thoughts on x…” and decrease its formality by using “let me know” or “tell me how to do x.”
Conclusion
No matter where we go or what we achieve, seeking advice is nothing less than necessary not only in business but also in our personal lives.
Therefore, knowing how to use phrases like “please advise” in a sentence with much flexibility is quite a handy skill to have.
You might also want to learn about other commonly used phrases in business correspondence such as:
- Well received
- How to say “Just a heads up professionally”
- “Touch Base” Alternatives
- Other Ways to Say “It was a pleasure talking to you”
- Please see attached alternatives
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.