“Why don’t we …?” for suggestions.

• Be careful with this ………. It is a question ……….

But it’s not really a question that needs you to answer “Because ……..”

 notice the form is: why don’t we + infinitive

It is also possible with:

• why don’t you  …?
• why don’t I ….?
• why don’t they……?
• Why doesn’t she….?

• Trevor: I’m not working this weekend, why don’t we go to the coast until Sunday night?
• Tracey: That’s a good idea. We could stay at my sister’s.
• Trevor: Brilliant! Why don’t you phone her now to check it’s OK with her?

• Helen: Mike! It’s raining again, I don’t fancy going cycling now!
• Mike : Yeh! Never mind. Why don’t we watch that DVD you bought last week?
• Helen: OK. We could go on our bikes tomorrow.

As you can see in the examples, this is a normal Present Simple question using the negative form of do (don’t or doesn’t). The verb form is Present but it refers to a future situation, usually a near future.

Other ways of making suggestions in the English language are

Let’s ……. let’s make a suggestion

How about ……..? how about making a suggestion?

We could ………

There isn’t one form that is better than another. Choose one and try and use it when you speak, write etc. Be careful to use the correct form of the verb.