“Would it be a problem if we took your car instead of mine? Mine isn’t as comfortable on long drives.” To make the request polite, we use the simple past form of the verb after this expression. Would it be possible to push back the deadline a day or two? It’s going to be really difficult to finish on time, and we want to make sure we do quality work.” Would it be a problem if…? “We are a bit behind schedule on this project. “Would it be possible to change my appointment to next Friday instead of this Friday? I just found out I have to travel for work on Friday.” “Would it be possible to bring our children to the party? We haven’t been able to find a babysitter.” This is another common expression for politely asking for a favor. Do you think I could use you as a referral?” Would it be possible to…? Do you think we could change the meeting time to 8 a.m.?” “It’s really difficult for me to get here at 7:30 a.m. Do you think you could get our mail for us while we’re out of town?” “My husband and I will be on vacation next week. This is another expression that we often use to politely ask for a favor. Notice that we use could and not can in these requests. Work is really crazy for me, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll have time to plan a party. “I was hoping you could host Christmas at your house this year. I was hoping to take Friday off so I can spend the day with her. “I just found out that my best friend is going to be in town next week.

“I know you’re really busy right now with your classes, but I was hoping you could help me do my research paper this weekend. Since I was hoping… isn’t a question, we sometimes follow the expression with a question such as Would that be okay? or Would that be a problem? This is another expression we can use to make a polite request. There are a few things I’m not 100% sure of.”

“I was wondering if we could do a brief review before we take the test today. I was wondering if I could leave work a few minutes early today so I can be sure I get there in time.” I was wondering if you could give me a ride home after work. “My car broke down this morning and I had to take a taxi. We can use I was wondering if… for big requests that we’ve had some time to think about. Using past tenses instead of present tenses is one technique for softening our language and making a request less direct (and therefore more polite). Instead, we need one of the following polite expressions. A simple question with can or could is just fine.īut what about if you are making a special request or asking for a huge favor?įor these situations, we can’t use the same language that we would use for a routine request. For these everyday requests, we don’t need formal, indirect language. Making routine requests is pretty easy for English learners.

Think about it as a favor for a friend