How to sound polite in English?

Elo Kasia

English Time Ask Elo (07/07/2019)

How to sound polite in English?

English Time Ask Elo

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How to sound polite in English?

How to sound polite in English?

English Time Ask Elo

Asking questions politely. Could, would and may

English Time Ask Elo

Asked by @ Domingos Fernandes de Sousa (Community Student)

How to sound polite in English? | English Time Ask Elo

Answered by @ Elo Kasia

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How to sound polite in English? | English Time Ask Elo

Question Time: How to sound polite in English? | English Time Ask Elo

@ Domingos Fernandes de Sousa, Thank you for your question.

As usual, I will try to explain the difference using simple language and plenty of examples.

How to sound polite in English?

It is very important to sound polite is English and there are many different ways of doing so. Whereas in some other languages it is much more common to be direct, English has many rules about what is considered formal, informal, rude and polite.

It is certainly true that as a beginner you can get away with a lot when speaking English, but the better habits you develop at the start the more natural speaker you become. In my posts this week I will look at the different types of questions and show you some easy (and also more refined) ways of sounding more polite (and natural) in English.

Basically, there are three types of questions in English: direct, indirect, and question tags.

Direct and indirect questions are used to ask for information you do not know, while question tags are generally used to clarify the information you think you know. We can use any type of question and sound polite, but it is definitely the indirect questions that are considered to be most polite and formal. They are also the most difficult to learn so we leave them to the end.

Asking Direct Questions politely

Direct questions are either yes/no questions such as “Are you English?” or information questions such as “Where do you live?” Direct questions can seem abrupt and impolite, especially when you are talking to a stranger.

Direct questions:

Does the bus stop here?
What time is it?
Can I pass?
Which way is the station?

How to make them polite? The easiest way is to add “excuse me,”, “pardon me”, or “please” and you already sound more polite.

Excuse me, does the bus stop here?
Excuse me, what time is it, please?
Pardon me, can I pass?
Excuse me, which way is the station, please?

So, even if your English is at a beginner’s level, using these simple words can help you sound more polite.

It’s also possible to use ‘can’ in informal situations. “Can you show me,” “Can I have,” “Can I sit”, etc. But in order to make questions more polite, change “can” to “could” and you sound like a “native”

Excuse me, could you tell me the time?
Pardon me, could you help me?
Pardon me, could I sit here?
Could you show me on the map?

You can also use these with the imperative form. Many beginners just use the imperative form to ask for things, but it sounds too direct and rude and should be avoided. Do not say “Give me that”, “Show me”, “Move” and so on. Use “Could you give me that please,”, “Could you show me, please” and “Could you move, please.”

Make sure you study our examples and do *TT exercises throughout the week to learn how to be more polite.

Make sure you do our *TT exercises to practise asking questions in English.

Check my other articles here: All English Time Ask Elo – Learning Articles