"You don't have to make a second guess" <- Does it sound natural?

A native speaker would understand what you mean, and maybe they wouldn't even correct you, but they would know you aren't a native speaker.

I would assume you mean “you don’t have to guess a second time”, which is not your intention. “Second guess” is a verb, and you are using it as an adjective-noun pair. In context I might understand what you mean, but it’s not correct and it doesn’t sound natural.

Second guess here is a compound verb, think of it as second-guess. It means to question a decision or position, not just to make a guess, and then make another guess. Even the inclusion of 'have to' sounds unnatural, imo, as second guessing isn't something that one would ever be required to do, it's usually seen as an undesirable thing to do. Personally, I would immediately assume non native if I heard anything other than "don't second guess me/them/yourself".

It doesn't sound natural unless you're playing in some sort of game show where candidates have to guess something.

It might sound natural, but *"You don't have to make a second guess"* and *"You don't have to second-guess yourself"* have a small but nuanced difference. * **"You don't have to second-guess yourself."** → This is the common, idiomatic way to say *"You don’t need to doubt yourself."* * **"You don't have to make a second guess."** → This has a different nuance. It could imply that your first guess was correct, so there's no need for another. It might also suggest that someone else will make the next guess instead of you. In some cases, it could even come across as standoffish, as if dismissing the need for their further input. While both sentences are understandable, the second one is less idiomatic in everyday speech.

It doesn’t sound natural and for me it changes the meaning. There’s two similar phrases with different meanings and I’m not sure which one you’re after here. ‘Second-guess yourself’ is for when you have made a decision, but have started to question if you’ve made the better choice. ‘You don’t need to guess twice’ is when you’re telling someone else that the answer is obvious, for example “Guess who asked me out— you won’t need a second guess!” Does that help at all?

“You don’t have to guess again.” Sounds much better.

This sentence sounds more like, "I'll give you three guesses but I'll be disappointed in you if you need more than one." Such a thing would be said for when you are asking someone to guess something that is super obvious. Usually, these situations are initiated with "Something cool happened! I'll give you three guesses." "To second guess"really only works if it is on a verb location with "ing" or "ed". But standing alone, "second guess" is competing with a noun guess for the guess between the first and third ones.

"Make a second-guess" is not a normal construction and will absolutely flag you as a non-native speaker immediately.

To make a second guess This is odd. I would not understand you. Or if I knew you were speaking English as a second language, I might be able to figure out what you mean.

i would understand you as you intend this phrase to be understood- namely, because the phrase "second guess" is communicated. i would assume you spoke english as a second language!

i agree with the other comments. if this were said to me, my interpretation would be along the lines of “without a doubt” and not “don’t second-guess yourself”.

Yes, but this one wouldn't be read idiomatically. It would be equivalent to saying "you don't have to guess again "

"Second-guessing" isn't actually the same thing as making a second guess. It's an idiom that means to doubt yourself and change your opinion.

I would not understand your sentence as having the same meaning as "second guess yourself". I would probably be confused.