Hi there, This is Harry, and welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry,
where we tried to help you to get a better understanding of the English language,
to help you with your grammar, vocabulary,
Use of expressions, phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions, whatever it is, or if it's just
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So in this particular lesson, this advanced lesson, we're looking at ways to say things
politely, how to ask for something politely in English, so advanced ways in which you can
ask for something politely in English. So I'll give you the particular way in
which you can ask politely and I'll give you an example of how to use it.
So let's get started.
First, can you? So we can use this way for lots of ways.
Can you get me a new plates or a sitting in
a restaurant? And the plates in front of you is dirty. So
rather than just, sticking your hand up and waving to the
waiter or the waitress,
when they come past you, you might say, Sorry, can you please get me a clean plate or can you please
get me a knife and fork or a spoon. So can you. And you can use that in
a polite way. And a lot of it has to do with the intonation
also in your voice. Can you please I'm sorry to ask. Can you please.
Would you kindly pass me the salt? Would you kindly bring me a glass of water? So would you.
Would you kindly. Would you kindly pass me the salt? Would you kindly bring me a bottle of water?
Would you mind telling me where the nearest bank is?
Would you mind if I asked you a question? So again,
we're being very, very polite in the way we can bring these situations up.
Number three. Do you think you could.
Do you think you could make the meeting a little
earlier? Because I have to leave to pick my children up from school.
Do you think you could copy those slides to me later? I would really appreciate it.
Do you think you could drop me to the train station on your way home?
My car's in the garage and I need to get that that
train at 6:00. Otherwise I'm going to be late. Do you think you could.
Number four, would you consider cancelling or postponing the
launch for another few days until I'm able to finish that research?
Would you consider would you consider inviting
spouses to the party as well. I think that people would really appreciate it if that
partners were invited to the party also. Would you consider. So not I want or I need or you
should. So we're just trying to be a little bit more polite. So. Would you consider.
Number five. I wonder or I was wondering, you can use either way a wonder. I was wondering if
you could cancel the meeting on Friday or bring it forward to Thursday because I've got a day
off on Friday or I'm hoping to have a day off on Friday. So I was wondering if we could. Or
I wonder if we could postpone the meeting until next week.
I'll be away for the weekend and I don't really want to miss the
meeting and I don't think I'd have the time to prepare everything in advance.
So if we could postpone the meeting until next week, it would really,
really help me. So I was wondering if or I wonder if so both of them are useful. Okay,
Number six, we can say you couldn't do something, could you? So you couldn't. And then let me give
you that in between. That's the beginning of it is you couldn't. And the ending is,
could you? You couldn't pass me the salt, could you? You couldn't get me a seat at the window,
could you? You couldn't drop into my office on your way to lunch, could you?
So the beginning, nice and polite. You couldn't. And the ending just as polite,
could you? You couldn't drop into my office on your way to lunch,
could you? I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you.
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Number seven. Now, here, we just have to be careful that we're how we use the verb after
this. Do you mind sending me a message when you get there? So you might say that to your children,
or you might say to your spouse. Do you mind sending me a message when you get
there? Do you mind calling me later to re to remind me about the meeting?
Do you mind sending me a
message by WhatsApp so that I don't forget? So do you mind sending? Do
you mind calling? So it's always do you mind? Plus the verb using the -ing
Or would you mind dropping me off at the railway station on your way
home? Would you mind calling down to my office on your way to lunch?
Would you mind cancelling the meeting?
Would you mind arranging that
dental appointment for tomorrow, not for today. So all of those.
Would you mind? And it's followed by the verb, but using -ing. So
would you mind cancelling? Would you mind calling? Would you mind removing? Would
you mind changing all of that? Would you mind followed by a verb but with that -ing.
Number nine. Could you could you please tell me the time? Could you please direct
me to the nearest police station? Could you please show me where the hotel is?
Could you please tell me what time dinner is served? So very, very simple. Very simple way,
but very polite way of asking somebody in English for something very polite and
it almost guarantee that somebody will help you and will assist you.
And number ten, Would it be okay
if. So, would it be okay if I left the office a little earlier? Would it be okay if I asked you
to complete that report by lunchtime tomorrow? Would it be okay if you could drop the kids
off to school on your way to work? I'm busy. Would it be okay if we got a takeaway tonight?
I'm absolutely exhausted, and I don't have time to go to the supermarket,
so lots of ways in which we can be very friendly, very polite,
and almost certain guaranteed that we get a nice, polite, friendly response.
Now, there are lots of answers that people can give when you're being
friendly and polite. So, for example,
when we want to say a yes answer. So somebody if you ask for something,
you know, could you drop me off at the railway station? Not at all. So that means. Yes,
not at all. So be careful here. It sounds negative, but it's actually a positive.
Would you mind cancelling the meeting?
Not at all. Don't worry. It's not so important. We don't have to have it
on Friday. We can have it on Monday or even Tuesday, if you prefer. So not at
all. Or simply which people use a lot these days. No problem. Now, can we postpone the
meeting until the afternoon? No problem. Can you call up the dentist and put my.
appointment back for a couple of days?
No problem.
Or a little bit more former. I'd be glad to. I'd be happy to.
Okay, so no problem. Not at all. I'd be glad to. I'd be happy to. Or really
formal. My pleasure. Yeah. So when somebody says, you're really, really great. Thanks for
putting the meeting back. My pleasure. I'm happy to help. My pleasure. So nice positive
‘yes’ responses to people's polite requests for something. So. Not at
all. No problem. I'd be glad to. I'd be happy to. My pleasure. So some former. Some less former.
And then possible no
Answers and these might be given with a reason.
So, for example, if you are asking the boss, could you please postpone
that meeting until Monday? Look, I'm sorry, I would really like to help you,
but, you know, my boss coming as well. And, you know, he's a really busy guy,
and this is the only time that suits him. So I'll get somebody to copy you with the minutes.
So I'm sorry, but.
Or I would love to drop you to the station, but I'm actually not going home tonight. I've got
a meeting in town, so I won't be going home to too much later. But Mike, he's going that way.
I know he goes that way every evening, so why don't you ask him? I would love to, but. Yeah.
I'm sorry
I can't because. So, you know, you your partner asked you to drop the
kids off at school on your way to work. You said, I'm sorry,
but I can't because I have to go in really early this morning. The boss is call called
an emergency meeting to do with that new marketing plan. And I really have to be there.
Yeah, so. And I can do it tomorrow, but not today. So I'm sorry,
but I can't because. So you're all the time giving a negative answer. A no,
but you're giving a reason why. So it’s not just simply no.
Okay. So it's equally as polite and equally as important to be
polite with the answer as it is with the question.
So if you have to say no, give a reason why you have to say no. And if you are saying yes,
well, of course that is in itself much better because people like to
get a yes response. But you can say it in different ways, like,
No, not at all. And that's that is positive. Not add up? No, not at all.
No problem. I'd be glad to obey. Happy to. My pleasure. But if you do have to say no,
then please try to give a reason why. I'm sorry,
but I can't postpone the meeting because my boss is coming as well. I would love to
drop you off at the station, but I'm not going
that way this evening. I've actually got a meeting in the city centre. Or
I'm sorry I can't drop the kids to school this morning because
the boss has called a really early meeting. But I can do it tomorrow. No,
no problems. Okay, So all ways in which you can be polite to
ask somebody for something and then you can be a bit polite in the way you answer either yes or no.
Okay. So try to practice those. Try to use them in your speech is not so
difficult. Indirect and direct questions are a tricky area, but particularly in British,
English. British native people are usually a little bit more reserved and therefore
less direct and less indirect. So if you ask indirect questions, they will come across much,
much more polite and much more likely to get the sort of answer and the help that you want to get.
Okay, So that's the end of this particular lesson. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you
need to contact me, then you can do so on www.englishlessonviaskype.com. Make
sure you watch out for the next lesson. Thanks for listening to this one. Join me again soon.