Grammatical doubt

[arindamb]

Hi,

I have a doubt with the proper usage of Can and Could? Can someone explain this to me with example?
Let me elaborate my question further:
Which of the below sentence is correct and why?
Can you please connect me to the telephone number 9999999?
OR
Could you please connect me to the telephone number 9999999?

Thanks in advance!!!

With regards,
Arindam.

[BobK]

Hi,

I have a doubt with the proper usage of Can and Could? Can someone explain this to me with example?
Let me elaborate my question further:
Which of the below sentence is correct and why?
Can you please connect me to the telephone number 9999999?
OR
Could you please connect me to the telephone number 9999999?

Thanks in advance!!!

With regards,
Arindam.

Both those sentences are OK; the one with 'could' simply sounds more polite.

Example:

'Could you please connect me to the telephone number 9999999?'
'Certainly sir. Bear with me please.' ...
[Ten minutes of canned music later:]
'I've been waiting for ages. Can you connect me to the telephone number 9999999?'

The other thing about 'can' is that it can be interpreted as referring simply to ability. (So could 'could', but its use in polite requests makes it less likely to be misinterpreted.) For example, when I saw your question ('Can someone explain this to me...?') I thought 'I don't know - can I?' Let me know if I've managed!

b

[Ksenia]

"Can' shows us an ability to do something and "could" is a polte variant to ask for something mostly in formal speech.

[BobK]

"Can' shows us an ability to do something and "could" is a polte variant to ask for something mostly in formal speech.

'Can' can refer to ability; it doesn't always. Look at the example I gave.

b