Daily Archives: May 15, 2018

10 Levels of Politeness in English

10 Levels of Politeness in English

Imagine the scene: a young couple arrive home after a long day at work. One of them is hungry. There are many different ways to get what you want in English, but being polite will probably be the most effective way. But how polite should you be? Look at the following levels of politeness, and decide which level is the most appropriate:

↑ MORE DIRECT ↑

1. Dinner!

2. Make dinner!

3. Make dinner, please.

4. Can you make dinner, please.

5. Could you make dinner, please.

6. Could you possibly make dinner, please.

7. Could you possibly make dinner, please, if you have time.

8. Could you possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.

9. I was wondering whether you could possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.

10. Sweetheart – I was wondering whether you could possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.

↓ MORE POLITE ↓

Answer: Level 5 or 6 would be fine in this situation, while Levels 1-4 are too direct and may sound rude, because they are orders. In general, English ears hate to hear the imperative voice (giving orders). Levels 7-10 are maybe too polite and too formal for a young couple who know each other well, especially considering the context of making dinner at home. As you can see, the more words and clauses in the sentence, the more polite and the less direct it becomes.

Source: EnglishBanana.com ESL Blog

Image: OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay; thanks to Canva