Please can you tell me

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Dutch Belgium English US. The first sentence doesnt need ''could you tell me''. Asking someone ''how can I get to the bus stop'' is okay, but ''Could you please tell me how I can get to the bus stop'' is more polite and friendly! See a translation. Read more comments. Highly-rated answerer. ShikaarM That was not my sentence. A friend sent a message.

I think it would be better to say "Would you tell me the library classes schedule? Or, " Could you tell me the day and time of library classes? AnastasiaI The 1st one, it's more polite. Starting the sentence with could makes it sound too pushy. ShikaarM So, does "Will you, please, tell me the days and times of library lessons" sound natural? AnastasiaI I would say: "Please may you tell me the dates and times of the library lessons?

ShikaarM is saying "May you tell me something" common? More polite than sentence 4, a little less polite than sentence 6. Please, could you tell me the meeting date? Could you tell me the meeting date, please? More polite than sentence 6. Anyway, in a more formal email, I'd go with something like sentence 9 or, in general, with other such constructions: Could you please tell me if there's a possibility I wonder if you could possibly Would you mind if Improve this answer.

Nice answer. In English as in many languages, the more indirect the request, the more polite it sounds. I had a similar conversation about Esperanto: bonvole faru do it with goodwill or bonvolu fari be so good as to…?

I believe in my limited knowledge that both are idiomatic, but I think the latter more polite. Michael Login Michael Login 1, 1 1 gold badge 10 10 silver badges 18 18 bronze badges. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Related 4. Hot Network Questions. Question feed.

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