Can, may, will, could, would. Requests

Can, may, will, could, would. Polite Requests

Detention is a kind of punishment when a student is made to stay after the lessons.

Bob: Miss Wright, tell me what my mistake was. I was only 1 minute late for the lesson.

Teacher: Hmmm, and again you are making the same mistake. I`ll help you understand it.  Look at this sentence … Tell me what word is missed in it. Посмотри на это предложение и скажи мне, какого слова в нем не хватает… 

Mrs. Wright, tell me what my mistake was.

Bob: I don`t know. Honestly. Everything seems to be correct. – Да все, кажется, правильно.

Teacher: Politeness. Is this hint helpful? Вежливость. Полезна ли тебе эта подсказка?

Bob: I`m so stupid, Mrs. Wright. I should have said: “Could you tell me what my mistake was, please.” Мне стоило сказать: “не могли бы вы сказать, какая была моя ошибка, пожалуйста”. I was impolite. Я был невежлив. And I`m sorry for that.

Teacher: I`m glad you`ve understood your mistake. Я рада, что ты понял свою ошибку. But now I ask you to tell me about the words which help us be polite. Но сейчас я прошу тебя рассказать мне о словах, которые помогают нам быть вежливыми.

Bob: We should always be polite with people around us. It`s the golden rule. Это золотое правило. The main polite words are ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

But I think that we should be especially polite asking people for a favour. Of course, if we want to be helped. Но особенно нужно быть вежливыми, когда мы просим людей об услуге. Конечно, если мы хотим, чтобы нам помогли.

Teacher: Right you are. And how can we call ‘asking for a favour’?  А как же мы можем назвать ‘обращение за услугой?’

Bob: We call it ‘request’. Мы называем его просьбой: ‘request’.

Usually requests have the form of a general question. Обычно просьбы имеют форму общего вопроса. And they can start with the following modal verbs: can, may, will, could and would. А начинаться они могут следующими модальными глаголами: can, may, will, could and would. A modal verb is followed by ‘I’ or ‘you’ and then is the action we ask to do. Затем идет местоимение I или you, а только затем, то действие, о котором мы просим.

For example: Could you tell me what my mistake was? And don`t forget about the word ‘please’. Could you tell me what my mistake was, please?

Here are some more examples: May I come into the classroom, please?

Will you wait for me, please?

Can you help me to log in, please?

Would you excuse me, please?

Teacher: Wonderful! And do you know the difference between the usage of these modal verbs in requests? А знаешь ли ты, какая разница в употреблении этих глаголов в просьбах?

Bob: Sorry, but I`m not aware of it. Извините, но этого я не знаю.

Teacher: Look at the following situations and help me to make the conclusion. Посмотри на следующие ситуации и помоги мне сделать вывод.

First, let`s pay attention to the use of the pronouns ‘you’ and ‘I’.

Bob: Judging by these examples I can say that in requests ‘may’ is used in the form of ‘May I’ only. May I speak to Freddy, please: ‘Will’ and ‘would’ are used like this: ‘will you’ and ‘would you’: Will you help me to log in, please? Would you help me to log in, please?

 ‘Can and could’ may be used with both pronouns: ‘Can I, could I’: Can I help you, Mark? Could I speak to Freddy, please?;

 and ‘can you, could you’ Can you help me to log in, please? Could you help me to log in, please?

Am I right?

Teacher: Excellent! You`re a sharp mind. And what about their meaning? А как же на счет их значения? Do you feel any difference in the given sentences? Чувствуешь различие в данных предложениях?

Bob: I can say that ‘May I speak to Freddy, please?’ - sounds very formal. May I speak to Freddy, please? Звучит очень формально, как будто говорим с кем-то старше нас, или незнакомым. Freddy`s mother, for instance. Например, мама Фредди.

Teacher: And you are absolutely right. ‘May I’ is the most formal way to start a request. ‘May I’ – это самый формальный, деловой способ начать просьбу. May I speak to Freddy, please? Можно мне, пожалуйста, поговорить с Фредди?

Can is a start for informal requests, i.e. we use ‘can’ when we speak with our friend or family. Can I help you, Mark? Могу ли я тебе помочь, Марк? Freddy and Mark are friends.

Will you help me to log in, please? You see that it`s used in the reply to a friend. Вы видите, что ‘will you’ использовано в ответе другу, i. e. we use ‘will you’ when we ask familiar people to help us. ‘Will you’ используется в тех ситуациях, когда мы просим знакомых, близких людей помочь нам в чем-либо. Will you help me to log in, please? – Не мог бы ты помочь мне войти в программу, пожалуйста?

‘Could I, could you’ is more polite than ‘can I, can you’. ‘Could I, и could you’ более вежливое начало для просьб, чем  ‘can I, can you’.

Look, we can use ‘could you’ with unfamiliar people: Could I speak to Freddy, please?’ This request sounds very polite. Данная просьба звучит очень вежливо. Just like ‘Could you help me to log in, please?’

Bob: And what about ‘Would you help me to log in, please?’

Teacher: ‘Would you’ is even more polite than ‘could you’. ‘Would you’  еще более вежливое начало просьбы, то есть самое вежливое из всех перечисленных. But it`s more formal than ‘could you’. Но оно более формальное, более официальное.

Bob: Now I know that we can start a request with: May I, Could you, Could I; Can you, Can I, Would you, Will you.  ‘May I’ is the most formal way to start a request. May I – это самый формальный, официальный способ начать просьбу.

‘Could you or could I’ is a polite request, while ‘can you / can I’ and ‘will you’ are informal ways to ask familiar people for something. Could you или же could I – это вежливая просьба, в то время как can you / can I и will you – это неформальный способ попросить знакомых нам людей о чем либо.

Would you – is the most polite way to ask for something. “Would you’ – это самый вежливый способ начала просьбы. And it is more formal than ‘will you’. и он более официальный, чем ‘will you’.

Teacher: Great! Now you are aware of polite ways of asking your family, friends and other people for doing something. Look at the following cards and choose the needed variant to complete the requests.

(Card 1)

Sorry for being late. May or Will I come in? … The boy is asking his teacher to come into the classroom. In this situation we should be formal. В данной ситуации, говоря с учителем, нам нужно быть официальными, формальными. That`s why we use May I come into the classroom? Можно мне войти в кабинет?

(Card 2)

Could or Would I do anything else for you?  The situation takes place in a shop. We should be very polite. I think, we can use both variants. Я думаю, что мы в данной ситуации можем использовать оба варианта. Could and would both sound very polite. Oh, no, wait for a sec. We don`t say ‘would I’, мы не говорим ‘would I’, so, could is the needed variant here. Could I do anything else for you? Могу ли я что-нибудь еще для вас сделать?

 (Card 3)

Honey, may or could you help me, please?  We use ‘could’ because ‘may you’ is not correct. We can say ‘may I’ but not ‘may you’.

Honey, could you help me, please? Милый, не мог бы ты мне помочь? And ‘honey’ isn`t formal but familiar. Да и слово ‘милый’ не формальное, так мы называем близкого человека.

Teacher:  Well done. I see that you are ready to go home now. And remember: