I read in a book that in a situation where you are asked to join a club activity so politely that you cannot turn it down, “Could you join us?” is more polite than “Would you join us?”. Why is that? I’ve never thought which is more polite.
92611
Could you write your name? Would you write your name?   When you are asked to do this, are there any situation in which you hear weird if either is used (but the other sounds pretty natural .)
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Take the question:      Did you not go to the store?   If I did not go to the store, should I then say yes? Or no?  If I did go to the the store, would my answer then have to be yes or no?  For me I would think that if I did you go to the store, then the answer to the question would be 'yes'.
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Is it correct to use: Not every student is as rude as you mentioned   Or  Not every student are as rude as you mentioned.  Thanks
53421
At a family dinner, my 18-year-old niece asked my sister, "May you please pass the salt?" My sister said that she was impressed with her daughter's politeness, but that that particular wording was not correct.  My niece said that she had been taught to say that (by whom she could not say, but probably by her father—the parents divorced years ago.)   Despite our best attempts, we were unable to convince her of the illogical nature of the "May you please" construction.  How would you explain it to her?
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Should you be lucky to invite the Seoul,   If you are lucky to invite the Seoul,      What is the difference between the two sentences in meaning? And what is the reason we change the order from 'you should' into 'should you'?
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I have always been puzzled by some sentences people make that end in a no. For example, let's say someone instructed you not to leave your post before they arrive. Then they return but you're not there. When you finally meet them, they say:      So you decided to wait for me elsewhere than we had agreed, no?.   What is the meaning of no and what should I answer?
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I'm having a discussion with my wife on .  She says we cannot have "would" in a hypothetical if statement:     If I would want to change my address, should I let you know?   She says that "would" can only occur in the second part (as in Type 2).  If this is the case, is there then no way to describe "a hypothetical situation in which I would want to change my address" as conditional?  I feel like this sentence is different from:     If I want to change my address, should I let you know?   Then again, maybe it is just that I'm confused with how we would say it in Dutch.  And what about if it is the change, not the wanting to change, that is hypothetical? In other words:     If I would change my address, should I let you know?
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Examples:        Why, I'd love to.   Why, of course!      I get the concept of starting a sentence with a word not completely related to the overall response, but this one seems to be a particularly odd choice&nbsp;— is there any semantic meaning I'm missing?
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To start off let us construct a situation were I am walking along and I pass another person. Depending on the time of day and to be polite I say one of the following:   "Good Morning!" "Good Evening!" "Good Night!" "Good Day!"   Now 1 and 2 are common welcoming and polite gestures and I have no problem with their use. However the problem lies with 3: Why is it so dismissive compared with 1 and 2?  If I said "Good Night!" to somebody when walking at around 11 p.m why does it sound like I am putting them to bed?  Finally as a related matter, why is 4 not used too often? In other languages 4 seems to be more common then an equivalent "Hello!" and sometimes 4 and "Hello!" posses the same.meaning.
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Is it correct to say "Would you mind to do something?". I've seen this usage in a few places, but it doesn't sound right to me. I would guess that it's proper to use "Would you mind doing something?" instead.   Yet there are other verbs we could substitute here that make it sound correct with "to". For example, "Would you like to do something?" and "Would you care to do something?"  Could someone explain why "mind to" doesn't sound correct in this context, while "like to" and "care to" sound exactly right?
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I read the following sentence in book (App).     I will try and answer any questions you ask.   Why don't they use the following? (it is much common):     I will try to answer any questions you ask.   Is there any difference in meaning?  Update:  I noticed that a lot of books and news websites are using this phrase:        Although Katty will try and answer as many questions as she can.    He puller would have a chance to try and answer the question on her own ...
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Just now, I wanted to ask a question that was something like, "Can I get a thorough list of all the parts of speech that a sentence can be broken down into?" But then a nagging voice appeared in my head and said,  "Of course you can! You certainly have the capability -- but that's not what you want, is it." "You're asking for help, so use may."  My question is: Should I invariably trust that voice, instilled in students by grammar school teachers everywhere? What do serious linguists and language enthusiasts think about the "Can I"/"May I" distinction?  Would they agree, or is it fair to say that using "can" there has become proper idiomatic English? I ask because I couldn't really think of a quick way to rephrase that sentence using "may", and began to wonder whether it was just another one of those kludgy myths megalomaniac teachers enforce on their students...
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Let's not wait any longer. He might not turn up.   I would like to know in this sentence, could we use could instead of might? Can these two words be used alternatively?  What's the difference between this two words when come to asking about a possibility?
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Please let me know if "would" and "may" can be used in the following sentence instead of "might"?      But despite these interpersonal elements, some students find it more difficult to sustain their motivation online than they might as part of a real learning group.
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I've been wondering that for a long time. And if it is rude, then why does everyone say commands/imperatives without saying please? I personally phrase them into questions, or say "you have to","you need to","you can't"...and such. Does anyone else do that? Just me? I feel like everyone is bossy but me lol.  Also, I was wondering if saying "come on" is rude. It sounds mean or just negative when people do. Also when people say "let me" it also sounds mean-ish because it sounds like you are commanding permission from someone without them having any say.
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Update: (Originally this was a comment, but I thought it was worth sharing here at the top.)   In the original question, I asked if there was a polite, socially-acceptable way to ask an Indian co-worker not to use the phrase "do the needful", as I didn't care for it.   In the years since I asked this question I've asked many people about the phrase. To the Indians I've asked in-person, it's not rude in any way. To Americans I've asked it varies anywhere from "I don't like it, but I don't mind it" to "It's very rude and makes me angry when I see it".   Through a long series of edits the question morphed and I wasn’t able to delete it because it had upvoted answers. The question, as it stands now, has no other answer.  I guess, though, if you're non-Indian and you find it rude, or if you're Indian and you've never realized someone might find it rude, this post may still have merit. Hopefully it does. It certainly has gotten a lot of views. Best wishes, folks.  End Update. See below for what's left of the actual question.    "Do the needful."   It's a phrase that I've only seen used in email, and I find it . . . presumptuous (maybe even rude). Regardless of prefacing with "please", one is commanding rather than asking for assistance.  I've only seen it used by those of Indian origin, so I've simply not mentioned it at all rather than worry about any cross-cultural offense that may come of bringing it up.  But still, I don't understand why it's used. Why not request rather than make two statements, one factual, one imperative?  For example, why would one use:        I'm told you have Jane's email address. Please do the needful.      instead of,        Would you send me Jane's email address?
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First of all, English is not my first language. I have a question, maybe a basic one, about this phrase:     The situation highlights the mismatch between some areas of training and available jobs to/for them.   Should it be "available jobs to them" or "available jobs for them"?  Sorry if the question is really basic.