Presentation Language of Politeness

1. In the conversation below, two guests are visiting friends at their house.

Read the conversation and answer questions a), b) and c).

1. There are four speakers, A, B, C and D. Which ones live at the house, and which ones are visitors?

2. Does everyone know everyone else? How do you know?

3. A says, 'Shall I just put these upstairs?' What do you think these are?

A: Actually, I wonder if they're in. Oh, they are in.

B: They obviously are.

C: Hello.

A: Hello.

C: Come in.

B: I'm Mike.

C: How are you?

B: Fine.

A: Shall I just put these upstairs?

C: Well, yeah. Can you put them in our room, please?

A: Sure.

C: How were the roads?

A: Oh, fine. No problem.

B: No problems. No.

A: Are you in there, Alison? Mmmm. Hello there.

D: Hello.

A: Do you mind if I put my bag here?

D: Oh, go ahead. Want a cup of tea?

A: Yeah.

2. Match these questions from the conversation to their functions.

1. Shall I just put these upstairs? i) a request

2. Can you put them in our room, please? ii) asking for permission

3. Do you mind if I put my bag here? iii) an offer

2. Which words are missing from this offer from the text?

Want a cup of tea?

2. Without looking back at the conversation, can you remember how the phrases in Exercise 2 were answered?

Language reference

The way we make a request, ask for permission or make an offer depends on:

• the relationship between the people involved, and

• how likely it is that we will get a positive answer.

Requests

A request is when we ask someone to do something:

e.g. William, would you make me a cup of coffee?

We use the modal verbs can, could, will or would in requests:

e.g. Can you put them in our room, please?

Could I have a cup of tea, please?

Would you pass me the salt?

Would you mind phoning the doctor for me?

Will you come with me to the dentist, please?

In informal, spoken English we sometimes make requests using Do you want to ... or Would you like to ...:

A: Do you want to get me a glass of water?

B: Yes, OK.

We often add just in spoken English:

Would you like to just open a window for me?

Sometimes we use Can / Could I have ... with the meaning Can you get it for me?:

Can I have my suitcase? (Can you get my suitcase for me?)

Requests are often longer when the situation is more formal, and / or there's a strong

possibility of a negative response.

Compare:

Can you give me your pencil for a minute? (informal, likely to get a positive response)

This is a huge favour, but I was wondering if you could lend me your music system for the party? (more formal, less likely to get a positive response)

Here are some other expressions to make requests longer and more polite:

Would it be possible to borrow your car tonight?

Do you think you could help me?

Responses to requests

√ Positive responses:

We use expressions such as: Yes, of course. Sure. Yeah. OK. No problem.

χ Negative responses:

If you can't do something, apologise and give an excuse:

Can you pick me up from the station? Oh, I'm so sorry, but I can't. Our car is at the garage.

Asking for and giving permission

We use Can /Could/ May I... to ask if it is all right to do something:

A: Can/ Could/ May I give my homework in late?B: Well, all right, since you've been unwell.

We can also use other more formal expressions:

Would you mind if / Would it be all right if I went out tonight?

Do you mind if I/ Is it all right if I go out tonight?

We use can to give permission: You can borrow the car whenever you want to.

Offers

We use these expressions to say we will do something for someone:

Can I help you?

Shall I open the door for you?

I'll post those letters for you.

Would you like me to speak to him on your behalf?