{"id":73248,"date":"2020-03-22T10:01:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T10:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=73248"},"modified":"2020-03-22T10:01:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-22T10:01:44","slug":"how-to-make-a-request-or-question-sound-more-polite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/how-to-make-a-request-or-question-sound-more-polite\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Make A Request Or Question Sound More Polite"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Yes\/no questions<\/h3>\n<p>We usually make requests less direct by putting them in the form of\u00a0<b>yes\/no<\/b>\u00a0questions. This suggests that the hearer can choose whether to agree or not.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Could you lend<\/b>\u00a0me your pen, please? (Much more polite than Please lend me your pen)<\/li>\n<li><b>Could you<\/b>, please, move a bit? (Much more polite than Please move a bit)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Expressions of opinions can also be made less direct by turning them into questions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>be better to paint it green. (Direct expression of opinion)<\/li>\n<li><b>Wouldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/b>it be better to paint it green? (Persuasive question \u2013 less direct)<\/li>\n<li><b>Would\u00a0<\/b>it be better to paint it green? (Open question \u2013 very indirect)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Past tenses<\/h3>\n<p><b>Past tenses<\/b>\u00a0are often used to make requests (and also questions, suggestions and statements) more polite.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How many days\u00a0<b>did\u00a0<\/b>you<b>\u00a0intend\u00a0<\/b>to stay, sir? (Meaning \u2018How many days do you intend to stay?)<\/li>\n<li>How much\u00a0<b>did\u00a0<\/b>you\u00a0<b>want<\/b>\u00a0to spend? (More polite than How much do you want to spend?)<\/li>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>wondered\u00a0<\/b>if you could lend me some money. (Less definite and so more polite)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Present progressive\u00a0<\/b>forms can be used in the same way. They sound more casual and less definite.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>am hoping\u00a0<\/b>you can lend me some money.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Past progressive\u00a0<\/b>can make a request even less direct (and so more polite).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>was wondering\u00a0<\/b>if you could lend me some money.<\/li>\n<li><b>Were<\/b>\u00a0you<b>\u00a0looking\u00a0<\/b>for anything special? (Less direct and more polite than Are you looking for anything special.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Future tense forms<\/h3>\n<p><b>Will need\/have to\u00a0<\/b>can be used to soften instructions and orders.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I am afraid you\u00a0<b>will have to\u00a0<\/b>wait a minute.<\/li>\n<li>I<b>\u00a0will need to\u00a0<\/b>ask you to fill in this form.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Modal verbs<\/h3>\n<p>The modal verbs\u00a0<b>would, could\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0<b>might<\/b>\u00a0can be used to make questions, requests and suggestions more polite.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I thought it\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>be nice to have a drink.<\/li>\n<li><b>Could<\/b>\u00a0you help me?<\/li>\n<li>I was wondering if you\u00a0<b>might<\/b>\u00a0be interested in a game of tennis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Would\u00a0<\/b>is often used to form requests and offers with verbs like\u00a0<b>like<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<b>prefer<\/b>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What\u00a0<b>would<\/b>\u00a0you\u00a0<b>like\u00a0<\/b>to drink?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note the common use of\u00a0<b>would<\/b>\u00a0before verbs of saying and thinking to make a statement sound less definite.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That is what I\u00a0<b>would call<\/b>\u00a0annoying.<\/li>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>would say<\/b>\u00a0we would do better to catch the earlier train.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes\/no questions We usually make requests less direct by putting them in the form of\u00a0yes\/no\u00a0questions. This suggests that the hearer can choose whether to agree or not. Could you lend\u00a0me your pen, please? (Much&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,2106],"class_list":["post-73248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaking","tag-english-speaking-lessons","tag-making-a-question-sound-more-polite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73249,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73248\/revisions\/73249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}