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This question is not like another duplication question.

I'm confused that someone explains the quiz question about example of "recommend". There are 5 examples of sentence which is used with "recommend".

  1. I recommend you to visit Gyeongju.
  2. I recommend you visiting Gyeongju.
  3. I recommend visiting Gyeongju.
  4. I recommend (that) you should visit Gyeongju.
  5. I recommend (that) you visit Gyeongju.

She said only 3 and 5 are correct number. I am very familiar with number 4.

Does she's answer correct? only 3 and 5 are correct? Can't use "should" when I write with "recommend"?

Laurel
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Carter
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    Your advisor is a misguided pedant. The very first result from a Google Books search for "he recommended that I should" is from Advanced Writing in English: A Guide for Dutch Authors. Where it specifically says that He recommended me to take a taxi is a "typical mistake", for which the "correct" version is *He recommended that I ( should ) take a taxi* (which subjunctive form is correct with or without *should). Mind you, most of the 8 "typical mistakes" are constructions that at least some* native Anglophones do actually use, so I'd say that writer's a bit of a pedant too. – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 12:30
  • Here's the link, – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 12:31
  • Does this answer your question? Usage of 'Recommend'. Also Can "recommend" be followed by an infinitive? and Do you recommend (to me) and I recommend or I'm recomending you something, among others. – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 12:39
  • @FumbleFingers Yes, that makes sense. Thanks – Carter Jul 04 '23 at 12:45
  • Grammarians should be especially cautious about laying down the law regarding verbs like *recommend, advise,* and *suggest. Those verbs are typically used in "persuasive" contexts, where a speaker is trying to influence someone else's thoughts or actions. That's often a very "delicate" context, which encourages circumlocutory phrasing, as a direct consequence of which* the syntactic constructions that are commonly used tend to change over time (as people experiment with new ways of "beating around the bush", some of which catch on and endure). – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 13:03
  • I hope this question help to someone how do I fix my question instead of "close "? – Carter Jul 04 '23 at 13:09
  • You don't really need to do anything. Personally, I don't think you should attempt to "delete" your Q even if you're happy that you've found what you wanted to know. If enough other users agree with my closevote, this Q will get closed, but I don't think that affects your "reputation" score. Feasibly it won't get closed, and maybe someone else will post an answer here that you like, in which case you should "Accept" it. But even if it does get closed and has no answers, someone might find this Q before asking a new Q, and follow one of the "duplicate" links to get the answer they seek! – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 13:18
  • That's to say - it's generally a good thing to have multiple questions asking essentially the same thing. Hopefully they all get closed except the earliest (or "best") one, but it's easier for a new questioner to find that "original" question if there are several closed questions kinked to it. There's more chance that at least one of the closed duplicates will be phrased in a way that matches the title of the new question before it even gets posted. If not, it still might be easier for others here to identify the duplicate after it's posted. – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 13:24
  • I can see the logic in that "recommend that you should" might be considered tautologous. But true tautologies (where there is genuinely no difference in meaning) are rare, and e.g. in "He recommended that we should do it but we didn't" it's natural to use "should" and to emphasise "should", which wouldn't work without. – Stuart F Jul 04 '23 at 14:08
  • @StuartF: I don't see why appending *...but we didn't* makes any difference to whether or not *should* should be included. Besides normally being completely unnecessary in that exact context, the word is inherently ambiguous - it might be simply a meaningless "function word" occasioned by the subjunctive verb *do [it]* that follows. OR it could actually mean *ought to* (again, redundant, since that meaning is implicit in preceding *recommend* anyway). – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 15:29
  • NB It's Is her answer correct? – Kate Bunting Jul 04 '23 at 15:45
  • @FumbleFingers I believe that an unanswered question with no upvotes is likely to get deleted by the "Roomba", in its weekly sweeping chore, even when the question is closed as a duplicate. It might take months though. Perhaps we should ask our mod Glorfindel. – Mari-Lou A Jul 04 '23 at 19:05
  • @Mari-LouA: You may be right. But I've just given this question an upvote, which may affect things! Obviously this one may as well be closed if no-one posts an answer for a couple of weeks (are we really waiting to see if one of our "once a month" users might be gonna post an answer here?). But I glanced at the answers to some of the questipons I cited as potential dups, and I didn't notice any making the specific point about the relatively "volatile" syntax of "delicate" interactions (between non-equals, or where one party is making an unwelcome observation or offering unwanted advice). – FumbleFingers Jul 04 '23 at 19:22

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