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Thread: Definitions: Courtesy vs Politeness

  1. #1
    kwfine is offline Member
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    Default Definitions: Courtesy vs Politeness

    Dear teachers,

    Is there any difference in Courtesy and Politeness.

    Say when there ever came some visitors to my house,
    the first thing that I always did was to ask them: "Would you want some drinks?"
    But, should this be considered as a way of Courtesy or Politeness?

    Please help clarify, teachers.

    Kitty

  2. #2
    bhaisahab's Avatar
    bhaisahab is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: Definitions: Courtesy vs Politeness

    Quote Originally Posted by kwfine View Post
    Dear teachers,

    Is there any difference in Courtesy and Politeness.

    Say when there ever came some visitors to my house,
    the first thing that I always did was to ask them: "Would you want some drinks?"
    But, should this be considered as a way of Courtesy or Politeness?

    Please help clarify, teachers.

    Kitty
    Say "Would you like some drinks?" This is polite, it's also courteous.
    dilodi83 likes this.

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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: Definitions: Courtesy vs Politeness

    Quote Originally Posted by kwfine View Post
    Dear teachers,

    Is there any difference in between courtesy and politeness.

    Say when there ever came some For example, when visitors come to my house, the first thing that I always did was to ask them is "Would you want some drinks? "Would you like a drink?" or "Do you want something to drink?"

    But, shWould this be considered as a way of courtesy or politeness?

    Please help clarify, teachers.

    Kitty
    Please see my amendments to your post above. You don't need a capital letter on courtesy or politeness.

    Generally, courtesy refers to behaviour and politeness refers to speech.

    If a man opens a door for a lady, that's courtesy.
    Saying please and thank you in the right places is politeness.

    Please note that that is not an absolute rule (we have very few absolute rules) but it's a good guide.

    You should say to your guests "Do you want a drink?" or "Would you like a drink?" or "Would you like something to drink?" or "Can I get you a drink?" - there are many variations. All of these are polite and are nice things to say to your guests.
    dilodi83, Rover_KE and Plexike like this.

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