'I was wondering'

Question

I know that 'I was wondering' and 'I was hoping S +V' are used to express 'politeness' but then, those are not used to express just 'the past' or we have to distinguish them in contexts? Thank you in advance.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Both the progressive aspect and the past tense can be used to suggest diffidence - and thus politeness:

I wonder if you can help me / I wonder if you could help me./?
I am wondering if you can help me / I am wondering if you could help me./?
I wondered if you could help me./?

We can even combine the progressive form and the past tense:

I was wondering if you could help me./?

Note that these requests can be presented as a statement or a question.

Context makes it clear that these are requests, as opposed to simple statements:

I thought about George, and wondered if he could help me.
I was just wondering if George could help me when he walked into the room.

'I was wondering'

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