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Thread: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammatically ?

  1. #1
    youralibaba is offline Newbie
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    Smile Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammatically ?

    Please tell me.

    If we have to change wait here into polite request the what are the ways to do that e.g please wait here.

  2. #2
    IvanV is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Please wait here! - order;
    Could you please wait here? - polite request.



    I.
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  3. #3
    colloquium is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Can you please give me a glass of water is grammatically correct, but it sounds like an impatient demand.

    Could I have/I would like a glass of water please sounds more polite (in my opinion).


    As for a politer version of wait here perhaps try something less formal like could you please hang on here for a minute/short while.

    I'm not a teacher.
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    What I understand-
    Wait here. (order)
    Please wait here. (request)
    Could you please wait here? (polite request)
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  5. #5
    IvanV is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Quote Originally Posted by colloquium View Post
    Can you please give me a glass of water is grammatically correct, but it sounds like an impatient demand.

    Could I have/I would like a glass of water please sounds more polite (in my opinion). It does, could is fairly polite. More than can, anyway.


    As for a politer version of wait here perhaps try something less formal like could you please hang on here for a minute/short while. (hang on in a way implies 'for a short period of time'. Also, informal does not mean politer, at least to me. )

    I'm not a teacher.
    Cheers!

    I.
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  6. #6
    IvanV is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Quote Originally Posted by whitemoon View Post
    What I understand-
    Wait here! (order)
    Please wait here. (request)
    Could you please wait here? (polite request)

    I.
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  7. #7
    Ravindra H is offline Newbie
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    [quote=youralibaba;332609]Please tell me.

    Your sentence is gramatically correct in case you are impatient with the person. If you prefer to sould polite, please replace 'can' with 'could'.
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  8. #8
    colloquium is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Quote Originally Posted by IvanV View Post
    As for a politer version of wait here perhaps try something less formal like could you please hang on here for a minute/short while. (hang on in a way implies 'for a short period of time'. Also, informal does not mean politer, at least to me.
    I totally agree.

    In this instance I suggested that an informal approach may sound politer because, in this context, it has a less authoritarian tone.

    Also, as you stated, hang on does imply a short period of time, but that is why I suggested such a phrase; it softens the request, though of course it wouldn't be suitable if a long wait were to be expected.
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  9. #9
    IvanV is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    Quote Originally Posted by colloquium View Post
    Also, as you stated, hang on does imply a short period of time, but that is why I suggested such a phrase; it softens the request, though of course it wouldn't be suitable if a long wait were to be expected.
    Certainly, but then the sentence should read:
    Could you please hang on here.
    For a minute/short while makes it redundant.

    The sentence itself does not sound very good to my ear, though. Don't know why, but it looks as if it lacks something. I'd use it solely for phone calls (while omiting 'here', of course).

    I.
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  10. #10
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    Default Re: Please telll me IS "Can you please give me a glass of water" correct grammaticall

    ____________________
    Correction


    Please tell me how to change wait here into a polite request.
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