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Wouldyoumindreadingthis,please?|AboutWordsCambridgeDictionariesOnlineblog

CommentingondevelopmentsintheEnglishlanguage

Wouldyoumindreadingthis,please?April30,2014
byKateWoodford
Its often said that native English speakers use a lot of softeners in their
languagethosewordsandphraseswhichmakeussoundnicerandmore
polite, (even if they have very little actual meaning). This week were
takingalookatsoftenersandthesortofsituationsinwhichweoftenuse
them.
An obvious place to start is requesting asking politely for things or for
help.(Itsobviouslyagoodideatosoundpoliteandpleasantifyouwant
something from someone!) There are several ways to make it clear to
someone that you are requesting something and not demanding it. Could I
takethischair,please?soundsjustalittlebitnicerthanCanItakethischair,
please? The meaning is the same in both sentences, but with could the
speakersoundsalittlelesssureoftheanswerandthismakestherequest
sound more polite. If you add the word possibly to this phrase, you
soundevenmorepolite:
CouldIpossiblyborrowthisumbrella?
Another way of softening (= making nicer) a request for something is to use the slightly more
complicatedphrase,Doyoumind?:
DoyoumindifIturnthemusicdown?
Doyoumindtakingthesedownstairs,please?
Tobeevenmorepolite,youmightsay,Wouldyoumind?(Wouldsoundsalittlelesssurethan
do):
WouldyoumindifIturnedthemusicdown?
Wouldyoumindhelpingmewiththeseboxes,please?
Note the past tense turned in the first example. (Do you mind if I turn?/Would you mind if I
turned?)
Another softener that is often used when requesting something is the word just. Just makes a
requestsoundasifitisonlyalittlethingthatyouareaskingfor:
CouldIjustaskyoutomoveyourchair,please?
CouldIjusttakethisbook,please?
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People at work who are asking customers/patients, etc. to do things obviously need to sound
polite.Asofteneroftenusedwithrequestsinthistypeofsituationisthephraseforme.Itcomes
attheendofthesentence:
Nurse:Couldyoujustrollyoursleeveupforme?
Personinabank:Couldyousignyournamethereforme?
At all is another softening phrase used in work situations. People often use it when making
enquiriesoftheHaveyougotx?type.Thephrasehasabsolutelynomeaningusedinthisway,but
seemstomakethespeakerlessembarrassedaboutaskingacompletestrangeradirectquestion:
Haveyougotayearlypassatall?
Doyouhaveamemberscardatall?
Ofcourse,peoplealsousesoftenerstopolitelyrefuserequests.Themostcommonsoftenerwhen
sayingnoisanapology.Itusuallycomesatthestartofthereply:
Imsorry,wereusingthatchair.
Imafraidweneedthosebooks.
Two other softeners that people often use in this situation are Actually and If you dont
mind.Again,theyhavelittlerealmeaning,buttheydosoftentherefusal,makingitsounda
littlenicer:
Q:Haveyougotamoment,IanIneedtoaskyouaboutsomething.
A:Actually,Imabitbusyatthemoment.Couldwespeakthisafternoon?
A:Ifyoudontmind,Imabitbusyatthemoment.Couldyoumanagethisafternoonatsomepoint?
Thisweekwehavelookedatsoftenersusedinrequestsandrefusals.Nextweekwewilllookat
softenersusedwhendisagreeing.

Postedingrammar,theEnglishlanguage|TaggedEnglishlanguage,vocabulary|

19comments
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Doestheexpression.atallintheexampleabovesoundslikebyanychance?
bySergioRodrigues(@serpiro)April30,2014at4:21pm
Reply
IlikelearnenglishbutIdontknowhow?
byLinValleyApril30,2014at4:24pm
Reply
RebloggedthisonSearcher.
bySearcherApril30,2014at10:31pm
Reply
Inthesouthweusealotofsofteners,sweetie,shug,sayitagain
byvisionary22May1,2014at1:49am
Reply
This is another strategy, especially common in the US: addressing a person in a friendly,
informalmanner:Honey,doyouneedthatchair?Orasafamoussonghasit,Buddy,
canyouspareadime?Thesamegoesforrefusals:Sorry,beautiful,butIcantletyouin
withoutaticket.
Thelatterreflectsanotherstrategy:combineacomplimentwitharequest:Thoseflowers
are gorgeous, but could you hold them in your lap so I can sit in that chair? Or I love
yourhat,butcouldyoupleaseremoveitsothatIcanseethestage?
bygothamguideMay1,2014at5:41am
Reply
Ilearntalotoffromthisthankuverymuch
byRajaTayyabAmanatMay1,2014at2:41am
Reply
Thanksforyourknowledgesir,
byNangsansanooMay1,2014at5:56am
Reply
[]http://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/04/30/wouldyoumindreadingthisplease/[]
byWouldyoumindterriblyif|LC1LC2May1,2014at4:41pm
Reply
politeness=kindness/empathy
bylouisemoralesMay4,2014at7:19am
Reply
[]Wouldyoumindreadingthis,please?.[]
byWouldyoumindreadingthis,please?|TuyentranslateMay20,2014at3:52pm
http://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/04/30/wouldyoumindreadingthisplease/

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Reply
Thanksalot.ItsreallyagreatwaytolearnEnglish.
byHinaMalikMay23,2014at10:54am
Reply
GoodarticlethatIllgivetomystudents,butImsurprised:youdontgivedictionarylinksto
anyofthesofteningwordsorphrases(exceptpossibly).Ifeeladdingthoselinkswouldbea
greatimprovement.
byGALESLJuly8,2014at2:35pm
Reply
[]Vieworiginal[]
byCchgiaotiplchs:Yucuvtchiyucu|LUYNTINGANHJuly24,2014at4:45
am
Reply
Hello everybody!I have read some of the information texts you uploaded,and I found them
really interesting and usefull.They helped me to improve my grammar and also my
vocabularyskillsl.Ihavetothankyouforgiveussuchanexcellentmaterial.NextThursdayI
amgoingtotakeanadmissionexaminationforacourseIwouldliketodo,sothatwouldyou
mindhelpingmewithsomematerialaboutEducationoftheEnglishLanguageandEducation
in general?These will be the topics of the exam,I was looking information about them but i
couldntfindanythinginteresting.Thanksagain.
byCeciliaSebeMercaderFebruary24,2015at4:09am
Reply
Rebloggedthisonpremkumar131sBlog.
byPremKumarMarch27,2015at10:32am
Reply
ienjoyedtheinfo.
byravisharmaJune3,2015at8:10pm
Reply
Thankyou.Thisarticlehelpsmeknowalot.
byNganJune9,2015at11:24am
Reply
whaticanreplyfortheQuestionwouldyouminddoingit?
byAshokPandeyJuly5,2015at5:21pm
Reply
Ashok, good question! These days, a positive reply is fairly standard, so Sure, Of course.
Yes,ofcourse.etc.areallfine.Strictlyspeaking,inordertosayyes,thequestionWouldyou
mind.. would seem to require a negative ie Would you mind giving this to Maria? Not at
all.butmostpeopledontbotherwiththisnowadays.Allthebest,Kate
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bykatewoodfordJuly8,2015at10:12am
Reply

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