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I'm not a teacher
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I'd say: Can I get a refill, please?
Hey, does either of them mean the same thing?
1. Could you please refresh/refill the coffee for my friend? (Suppose we are at KFC and we want to have more coffee).
By the way, can we express the same idea using both of them as nouns? If yes, is the following correct?
2. May I have a refill/refresh of my coffee?
Thanks in advance. By the way, which sentence sounds more natural to native speakers?
Last edited by wang.cupid; 11-Apr-2011 at 10:16.
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I'm not a teacher
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I'd say: Can I get a refill, please?
When you are at a sit-down restaurant, usually extra coffee is at no extra charge. One thing you may hear is "Could you heat this up for me, please?" which means "add more of the hot coffee." Otherwise, whether it's coffee, water, or Diet Coke, ask for a refill.
At a KFC or other fast-food, counter-style restuarant, you buy one and that's it. If you want a refill, you buy a new coffee. I don't know any KFC that will take your existing cup and add more to it.
I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
You'd never get a Coke refill here, since Pepsi owns KFC and Taco Bell.![]()
I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
With tea, the practise of pouring hot tea from a pot into a half-full cup is known - in BrE - as refreshing it - usually when a full cup has been declined:
A: More tea?
B: No thanks, i've hardly drunk any.
A: Then let me refresh it for you.
I've never heard this with reference to coffee; as FF said, 'refill' is the word you want.
b
Lots of choices here but one thing I would suggest which is the use of "Could" over "can".
"Can I have a refill" is considered rude where I am from -- "Could I have a refill, please?" is considered correct and polite.
In fact a typical response to "Can I ..." is "Yes you can but you may not" -- often said to children to remind them not to use this form.
Anyway, back to the question...
Could I have some more coffee, please?
Do you mind refilling my coffee?
A local phrase you might hear in my area:
Could I get a touch up, please? (when it's obvious it's about a drink)
Not a teacher