Could you provide? Or Could you please provide?

no, in my opinion, you use both. ... the 'please' makes it a polite request', to show you are asking, and acknowleging them. It depends on how ... WelcomeGuestForumSearch|ActiveTopics|Members中文简体DanskNederlandsEnglishSuomiFrançaisDeutschNorskPolskiRomânăРусскийEspañolSvenskaTürkçe TheFreeDictionaryLanguageForums » English » EnglishVocabulary » Couldyouprovide?OrCouldyoupleaseprovide? Couldyouprovide?OrCouldyoupleaseprovide? Options PreviousTopic · NextTopic NirmalPriyaVishnu Posted: Wednesday,June20,20128:58:16AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:3/29/2011Posts:135Neurons:540Location:Madurai,TamilNadu,India Couldyouprovide?Couldyoupleaseprovide?IthinkCouldyouandCouldyoupleasebotharepointingthesamemeaningPleaseshareyourpointofview. Backtotop   thar Posted: Wednesday,June20,201210:15:33AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:7/8/2010Posts:25,501Neurons:103,490 no,inmyopinion,youuseboth.the'couldyou'makesitcourteousnormalspeech(anythingelselike'providemewith..!'wouldappearveryimperiousorrude)the'please'makesitapoliterequest',toshowyouareasking,andacknowlegingthem.Itdependsonhowmuchyouarerequesting,andhowmuch'orderingpolitely',orjustenquiringwhethertheycandoit.inmyopinionthepoliterequestwouldhaveboth.Butitmightlookabitobsequiousinabusinesscontext,itmightbemorenormaltohaveoneortheother.Otherswillknow. Backtotop   leonAzul Posted: Wednesday,June20,201211:06:10AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:8/11/2011Posts:8,589Neurons:31,236Location:Miami,Florida,UnitedStates Igenerallyagreewiththaronthis.Theword"please"isalmostuniversallyrecognizedasatokenofpoliterequest.Fornativespeakers,oneoftheearliestlessonsachildistaughtisto"Useyour'please'and'thankyou'words".Theuseoftheconditionalmoodtosoftenacommandisalsowidelypracticed,especiallyinwrittenformalcontexts.Itcansoundstiffandambiguousincolloquialspeech.Theuseofbothinwritingcanbeevenmoreambiguous.Astharpointsout,itcanseemexcessiveandthereforemisinterpretedasanattempttohideone'strueintentionsorasarcasticexpressionofirritationwithalackofcooperationorobedience.Inspokenlanguage,ofcourse,thereisintonation,emphasis,andbodyposturethatwouldcomplementandclarifytheintention.Allofthisisintendedasagentlereminder,tomyselfaswell,thataconversationgoesbothways.Iftheresponsesdon'tmatchexpectations,perhapsitistimetotakecorrectiveactionandsayitdifferently. Backtotop   srirr Posted: Wednesday,June20,201212:32:34PM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:12/29/2009Posts:8,507Neurons:484,353 IamintotalaccordancewithwhatTharandIMcRsaid.Iwouldhoweverliketoaddonemoreinterestingaspecttoit.Ifyouaretryingtobeabitsarcastic,use"please".Suppose,boyfriendandgirlfriendarefightingandtheyarenottalkingtoeachother.BFwantstheremoteandaskshisfriend,Canyoupleasepassthatremotetome?Nopolitenesshere,ofcourse.Itsonlysarcasm. Backtotop   Flameout Posted: Wednesday,June20,20124:19:00PM Rank:Newbie Joined:6/20/2012Posts:2Neurons:6Location:Canada Iagreewiththecommentsonpolitenessbutthinkthereisanotheraspectthathasbeenoverlooked(andisoneofmypetpeeves)."Could"implies"canyou"or"areyouableto".Nodegreeofpolitenesswillenableapersontodosomethingthattheycannot."Would"howeverimplies"willyou"or"areyouwillingto".Ifyouareaskingaboutcapability,use"could"withnoplease.Ifyouarereqestingavoluntaryaction,use"Wouldyouplease".Wouldyouagree? Backtotop   Drag0nspeaker Posted: Wednesday,June20,20124:46:17PM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:9/12/2011Posts:35,689Neurons:249,615Location:Livingston,Scotland,UnitedKingdom .Alsorecognisedbytoneofvoice:"WouldyouPLEASEshutthehellupandletmesleep!"(insertyouwordofchoicetoreplace'hell') Backtotop   leonAzul Posted: Wednesday,June20,20125:14:09PM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:8/11/2011Posts:8,589Neurons:31,236Location:Miami,Florida,UnitedStates Flameoutwrote:Iagreewiththecommentsonpolitenessbutthinkthereisanotheraspectthathasbeenoverlooked(andisoneofmypetpeeves)."Could"implies"canyou"or"areyouableto".Nodegreeofpolitenesswillenableapersontodosomethingthattheycannot."Would"howeverimplies"willyou"or"areyouwillingto".Ifyouareaskingaboutcapability,use"could"withnoplease.Ifyouarereqestingavoluntaryaction,use"Wouldyouplease".Wouldyouagree?Wecanleadbyexample,butIprefertosavemypiqueforotherbattles. Backtotop   RuthP Posted: Wednesday,June20,20125:26:43PM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:6/2/2009Posts:5,408Neurons:87,618Location:Drain,Oregon,UnitedStates Flameoutwrote:Iagreewiththecommentsonpolitenessbutthinkthereisanotheraspectthathasbeenoverlooked(andisoneofmypetpeeves)."Could"implies"canyou"or"areyouableto".Nodegreeofpolitenesswillenableapersontodosomethingthattheycannot."Would"howeverimplies"willyou"or"areyouwillingto".Ifyouareaskingaboutcapability,use"could"withnoplease.Ifyouarereqestingavoluntaryaction,use"Wouldyouplease".Wouldyouagree?Welcomeaboardandignorethosewhodisagree!I'malwaysgladtofindanotherwhoagreeswithmyownprejudices!Practicallyspeaking,inmostsituationstodaywouldandcouldareusedinterchangeably,butyouaredefinitelycorrectabouttheoriginandaboutthe(stillofficial,Ibelieve)properuse.It'sthesamedistinctionasmayandcan. Backtotop   excaelis Posted: Wednesday,June20,20126:16:17PM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:6/30/2010Posts:10,965Neurons:32,652Location:Toronto,Ontario,Canada Ibelievethat'would'carriesagreaterimperative."Wouldyoupleaseturnthemusicdown",forexample.Incontrast"Couldyoupleaseturnthemusicdown"seemsmorelikearequestthananorder.Inboth,however,thestressplacedontheword'please'iscrucial.Welcometothejungle,Flameout. Backtotop   hdli Posted: Friday,August24,20126:00:17AM Rank:Newbie Joined:7/9/2012Posts:1Neurons:3Location:UnitedStates,WY Thayarebothright. Backtotop   Romany Posted: Friday,August24,20128:48:39AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:6/14/2009Posts:18,351Neurons:59,701Location:Brighton,England,UnitedKingdom InBEwearetaughtthat'could'isthemorepolite.Insuchacontextitdoesnotmean'areyou(physically/mentally)abletodoso.'Onecouldperhapsargueitsdescentisfromtheultra-politesseoftheclasssystem?Itsmeaningismoreunderstoodas'may/canIimposeuponyoutodothis?'Ofcoursewedon'tlookatitthewayitderived:wesimplyacceptitisasawaytoavoidwhatcouldbeseenastheimperativemoodof"wouldyou?".'Couldyou?'(tomostofus,anyway)carriesanimplied'Youdon'thavetoifyoudon'twantto.''Wouldyou?'doesn'timplyachoice:-doitorelse.(Andhey,ifyouthinkthat'swimpy-weoftenadda'possibly'toit!'Couldyoupossibly....?')Naturally,notonepersonin20,Iexpect,eversitsandpuzzlesallthisout:asIsaid,wearejusttaughtthatit'spreferable.ItwasonlywhenIfirsthadtogiveaclassonthiskindofthingtoL2learnersthatIevereventhoughtaboutit. Backtotop   IMcRout Posted: Friday,August24,201210:12:59AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:5/27/2011Posts:35,380Neurons:563,379Location:Lübeck,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany srirrwroteQuote:IamintotalaccordancewithwhatTharandIMcRsaid....FortherecordIwouldliketostatethatsofarIhaveNOTcontributedtothisthreadinANYway.So,couldyoupleaseinfuturerefrainfrommentioningmynameinconnectionwiththisthread,srirr?Thankyou. Backtotop   Drag0nspeaker Posted: Friday,August24,201210:20:45AM Rank:AdvancedMember Joined:9/12/2011Posts:35,689Neurons:249,615Location:Livingston,Scotland,UnitedKingdom ThankyoutotheGermaninthered,goldandblacktartan.Aperfectexampleoftheover-useofthepolitenesstoexpressadefinitely"notpolite"feeling.Eventhe"Thankyou"attheendgivestheideaof"Idon'twantananswer,justDOit." Backtotop   Usersbrowsingthistopic Guest TheFreeDictionaryLanguageForums » English » EnglishVocabulary » Couldyouprovide?OrCouldyoupleaseprovide? 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