Which is more polite, "Would you" or "Could you"? - English ...

3 Answers · 4. Wellll .... · 1. @Jay Maybe I'm old fashioned. · 1. With the hairsplitting on would and could: Please don't forget the good old "please". ;-) · And ... EnglishLanguageLearnersStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforspeakersofotherlanguageslearningEnglish.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Collaborateandshareknowledgewithaprivategroup. CreateafreeTeam WhatisTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Whichismorepolite,"Wouldyou"or"Couldyou"? AskQuestion Asked 6years,10monthsago Active 1year,4monthsago Viewed 76ktimes 5 1 Supposeyouwanttoasksomeonetodosomething,saytotellyouthewaytoastation. Whichismorepolite,"Wouldyoutellmethewaytothestation?"or "Couldyoutellmethewaytothestation?"? politeness Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedJan22'15at5:17 MakotoKatoMakotoKato 1,92655goldbadges1919silverbadges3030bronzebadges 1 Theyarebasicallyequallypolite. – Lambie Aug2'20at21:28 Addacomment  |  3Answers 3 Active Oldest Votes 12 Whenyousay: Wouldyoutellmethewaytothestation? youareaskingafavorofsomeone. Whenyousay: Couldyoutellmethewaytothestation? literallyyouareaskingifthepersonknowsthewaytothestationandcantellyou.Asaquestionitisimpliedthatyouarehopingfortheanswer,butpermissionorwhetherthepersonwishestoanswerisnotaddressed. Assuch,usingwouldismorepolite. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJan22'15at5:26 user3169user3169 30.9k22goldbadges2525silverbadges5555bronzebadges 5 4 Wellll....Yes,"couldyou"istechnicallyaskingifthepersonisable,ratherthaniftheyarewilling.Butunlessthecontextindicatesthatyouarereferringtoability,peoplealmostalwaysunderstandittomeanthesameas"wouldyou".Ithinkbothareequallypolite. – Jay Jan22'15at6:53 1 @JayMaybeI'moldfashioned.Itmightbesplittinghairsdependingonthepolitenesssenseoftheindividual. – user3169 Jan22'15at16:33 1 Withthehairsplittingonwouldandcould:Pleasedon'tforgetthegoodold"please".;-) – Stephie Feb6'15at5:51 AndifIask"Canyou...?"doesitsoundimpolite? – mathreader Sep12'18at5:23 @mathreaderDependsonthesituationandrespondent.Would/couldgiveareasonableabilitytoreply"no".canbasicallyimpliesability,soa"no"responsemightimplyyoudon'twantto(possiblyimpolite)ratherthanyouphysicallycan't. – user3169 Sep12'18at17:02 Addacomment  |  6 Tentativevolition:Wouldyoutellmethewaytothestation? Tentativepossibility:Couldyoutellmethewaytothestation? Ifyouthinkofacasetodeclinetherequest,toanswera"Wouldyou...?"question,theliteralanswertothatquestionis"No,Iwouldnot."Thissoundslikeyouhavenowilltohelphim/her,andsoitisabitawkward.Assuch,saying"No"toa"Wouldyou...?"questionisratherdifficultatleastforakindperson.Ifyouthinkaboutsaying,"Sorry,Icould,butIwouldn't,"italmostsoundslikeanexpressionofhostility. Inasense,youarenotgivingachoicewhenyouaska"Wouldyou...?"question. Incontrast,declininga"Couldyou...?"questionisrelativelyeasier.Youcanblametheweatherorsomethingthatyoucannotcontrolandsay,"No,Ican't."or"Sorry,Ican't."Youcouldevensay,"No,Ireallywould,butIcan't,sorry."Youdon'thavetofeelthatawkward.Becauseyouaremakingiteasyfortheothertosay"No"whenyouareasking"Couldyou...?"or"Couldyoupossibly....?",thesequestionsaremorepolitethana"Wouldyou...?"question. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredDec11'19at18:50 KouichiC.NakamuraKouichiC.Nakamura 16111silverbadge33bronzebadges Addacomment  |  2 Maybeitwouldupthepolitenesslevelifyousaidsomethinglike"CouldItroubleyouto...?"or"SosorrytobotheryoubutcouldIaskyou/couldyoutellme/wouldyoubeableto...?"orsomethingalongthoselines,acknowledgingthatitispossibletheyareablebutyoudon'twanttoassumetheyarewilling. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug2'20at21:12 GeraniumWGeraniumW 2111bronzebadge 1 Hello,andwelcometotheELL.Thissiteencouragesitsuserstoprovidetheresearchtheyhavemadeinordertoanswer.Canyougivesomereliablelinksthatproveyouright? – fev Jan21at14:59 Addacomment  |  Youmustlogintoanswerthisquestion. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedpoliteness. FeaturedonMeta Reducingtheweightofourfooter UpcomingresponsiveActivitypage 2021CommunityModeratorElectionResults-V2 Linked 0 Useof"Could"vs"Would"forpoliterequest Related 2 Isitpolitetosay"Iwanttomakesurethat..." 2 IsusingtheSimplePastalwaysconsideredamorepolitewaytoasksomething? 0 Whichpoliteformulatosay"Likewise" 0 Wouldyou~?andCouldyou~?andsoon 6 Howmuchmorepolitedoestheword"please"makearequest? 1 Howtoaskforsomeone'snameandwheretheyarefrompolitelyorindirectly? 0 Isthispolite? 0 Arequesttotheboss HotNetworkQuestions Howtosay"amillionrainydays"inLatin HowmanyphysicalCPUsdoesmymachinehave? ShouldthefirsthinNehemiahbesilent?Ifso,why? Findingtheintervalofvaluesofanunknownelementsuchthatasquarematrixissemidefinitepositive DoestheChromaticDraconicSpiritfromthespell"SummonDraconicSpirit"getresistancetoAcid,Cold,Fire,LightningandPoisonorisitachoice? Howoftendoyoufeedyourcats? Wheredoestheenergyfromcombustioncomefrom? 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