“Advice” vs. “Advise”: What’s The Difference?

Advice and advise are closely related—they’re used in the same contexts and they’re separated by only one letter. But they’re pronounced differently.

The challenge is really remembering which spelling to use for the noun and which spelling to use for the verb. Take our advice: after we advise you on the difference, you’ll never get them mixed up again.

advice or advise?

Advice is a noun that means guidance about what someone should do. Advise is a verb that means to provide someone with guidance about something. In other words, to advise someone is to give them advice.

Despite their very similar spelling, advice and advise are pronounced differently. Advice rhymes with ice, while advise rhymes with advertise.

advices or advises?

Advice is a type of noun that’s known as a mass noun or an uncountable noun. This means that it’s not countable or quantifiable in the way that countable nouns (aka count nouns) like tree and dollar and idea are. In other words, advice never gets pluralized as advices (even when you’re talking about multiple people’s advice). Nor is it used with the indefinite article an—you wouldn’t say an advice.

Read more about uncountable nouns here.

Advises is a present tense form of the verb advise, as in She said she always advises her students to prioritize sleep.

How to remember advise vs. advice

Our advice? You can remember that advice is a noun spelled with the ending -ice because it also rhymes with ice, which is also a noun (and also an uncountable one—you wouldn’t say an ice or 12 ices). And you can remember that advise is a verb because it rhymes with (and has the same ending as) advertise, which is also a verb.

It’s also helpful to remember that the same pattern—in which the -ise ending indicates a verb and the -ice ending indicates a noun—is also seen in the related words devise (a verb) and device (a noun).

Perhaps the best way to remember the difference is to see the words in action.

Examples of advice and advise used in a sentence

To help you distinguish between advice and advise, here are some example sentences, including some that use both words.

• I advise you to get some professional financial advice before you start a business.
• How would you advise your client in this situation?
• What advice would you give your client in this situation?
• My chief of staff advises me on important matters.
• My advisor advised me to follow her advice and choose a major.
• I advise you to advertise the ice-removal device you devised in the DIY advice newsletter.
  

WATCH: Advice vs. Advise