I want a green tea. Is this sentence polite in English? Let’s find out. What’s up
guys? My name is Shane and today we are talking about how to be polite in English and how
to stop being rude. I understand that in many languages if you say I want this or I want
that, it’s okay. But in English if you say I want this or I want that, it’s not very
nice. It has the feeling of being a demand and not a request. And a demand is something
that must be done. It needs to be done. But a request is more like a question and it’s
more polite. It’s something that is asked for. So in today’s lesson, we learn about
the basics of being polite in English and we learn seven phrases that you can use to
start sounding more polite in English. And make sure you watch until the end of the video
because there will be a quiz to test you understanding. Okay, let’s get started. So the first thing
we need to do today is to learn the basics, to learn the rules of being polite in English.
The first thing you can do is: with polite phrases, when possible, use modal verbs. For
example: could or would. So you could say something like: could I have a coffee please?
This is very polite. Or would you like to go to a movie tonight? This is very polite.
The second thing you can do is: when possible, ask questions, don't make statements. For
example: I want a coffee. No. Could I have a coffee? Yes. The third thing you can do
is: switch to the past tense when possible. For example: don't say do you want a coffee.
Say did you want a coffee? I understand we're talking about right now but when we switch
to the past tense in English, it makes it more polite. And the fourth thing you can
do is to learn phrases that native speakers use when they want to be polite. Let's look
at the first one right now. Let's pretend you are at a restaurant. And you're sitting
down at the table looking at the menu. You're still not ready to order but the waiter comes
over to you and says: are you ready to order yet? What can you say to ask him for more
time? Don't say: go away. This is very very impolite. What you can say is: Could you give
me a few minutes please? Could you give me a few minutes please? This is a very polite
phrase to say I'm not ready yet. Please come back soon. I'm not ready yet. Please come
back soon. And when a native speaker says this really quickly, it sounds like this.
Couldjyuh give me a few minutes please? Couldjyuh give me a few minutes please? We don't say
could you, we say couldjyuh. Couldjyuh give me a few minutes please? Now you try. Couldjyuh
give me a few minutes please? Let’s pretend you are at a café. You’re sitting down
and you’re looking at the menu. You know what you want to order you want to order a
green tea. And the waiter comes over to you and he says what would you like to order?
How can you ask for a green tea in a very polite way? Don’t say I want a green tea.
What you can say instead is could I have a green tea please? Could I have a green tea
please? Another phrase you could use is: I’d like a green tea please. I’d like a green
tea please. These two phrases are very polite ways to request for something in English.
Let’s pretend you are at university and you are doing a project with your friend and
you need him to do something for you. How can you ask him to do something for you? Don’t
say do this for me. Do this for me. No. what you can say instead is: when you have a second,
could you do this for me? When you have a second, could you do this for me? This is
a very very polite way to ask someone to do something for you. It means when you’re
free, can you do this for me please? When you’re free, can you do this for me please?
Some other examples could be: when you have a second, could you call me please? Or when
you have a second, could you go to the shop and get me some bread please? Let’s pretend
you need to ask someone a question. You need to ask about the location of the nearest train
station. What can you say? Don’t say where is the nearest train station. What you can
say instead is: I was wondering if you knew where the nearest train station was? I was
wondering if you knew where the nearest train station was? I was wondering if a very polite
way to ask someone a question. And note here how we say knew, we don’t say know. We say
knew in the past tense because one of the rules of the basics of being polite in English
is to change things to the past tense. You can also use this phrase on the phone. For
example: hi, I was wondering if you could help me? I would like to speak to someone
in the education department. So the next time you need to ask someone something, try this
phrase. It’s very very polite. Let’s pretend your friends ask you to go to a party on Saturday
night and you don’t really want to go. How can you politely decline or say no to their
request? Don’t say no. What you can say instead is I would to, but… I would love
to, but.. and then you give a reason. For example, you could say: I would to but I have
to work. Or I would love to but I have to study for my exam. This is a very polite way
to say no to someone. Let’s pretend you want to meet your friend for lunch next week,
and you want to know what days he is free. What can you say to him? How can you ask that
politely? Don’t say tell me when you’re free. What you can say instead is: let me
know when you’re free. Let me know when you’re free. This is a very polite way to
ask someone to tell you something. Let me know. Let me know when you’re free. Let’s
pretend you are talking to your boss at work and he says something that you don’t agree
with. You think he’s wrong. How can you politely disagree with him? Don’t say you’re
wrong. What you can say instead is: I understand what you’re saying, but … I understand
what you’re saying, but … and then you give your reasons. So maybe you could say:
I understand what you’re saying, but maybe you haven’t seen this part of the project
yet. This is a very good phrase, a very polite phrase you can use to disagree with someone.
Okay so we have learned some basic phrases for being polite in English. But now let’s
have a little quiz to test your understanding. I will tell you a situation and I want you
to tell me which polite phrase you could use in that situation. Number one. You’re at
a shopping center and you see a juice bar and you want to go over there to order a strawberry
juice. What could you say to the waiter? You could say: could I have a strawberry juice
please? Could I have a strawberry juice please? Remember, could I have is a very polite way
to request something. Number two. You’re talking to your friend about English, how
to learn English. And he says learning pronunciation isn’t very important, you don’t need to
do it. And you disagree with that, what could you say to him? You could say: I understand
what you’re saying, but .. I understand what you’re saying, but .. and then give
your reasons. So remember, if you ever want to disagree with someone, you can always say
I understand what you’re saying, but .. and then give your reasons. Number three. You’re
at work and you’re doing project with your colleague. And you need your colleague to
find some information for you. How can you politely request that your colleague finds
that information for you? You could say: when you’ve got a second, could you find the
information for me? When you’ve got a second, could you find the information for me? Because
remember, don’t say find the information for me. You need to say when you’ve got
a second. This makes it really really polite. And that is the end of the lesson today. Now
you know the basics of being polite in English. And if you’re interested in learning more
phrases native speakers use all the time, then you can check out this video right here.
If you have any questions, please comment down below and if you haven’t subscribed
already, make sure you subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video, just like this
one, that can help you understand English like a native speaker. If you learned something
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so they can understand how to be polite in English and stop being rude. And for daily
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me on Instagram and I will see you in the next video. But you’re still not sure what
you want to eat and what you want to. I want a green tea. No, no, no, no. This is very
…