Nuance of this "I'm going to"

Question

Hi,I would like to know the nuance of this type of "I am going to" sentence. I'll quote an excerpt here:Anyone who watches even the slightest amount of TV is familiar with the scene: An agent knocks on the door of some seemingly ordinary home or office. The door opens, and the person holding the knob is asked to identify himself. The agent then says, "I'm going to ask you to come with me."The usage of this "I am going to" sounds a bit funny to me but I think it's fairly common. Would you describe the nuance of this usage? Why don't you say like, "you have to come with me." or "I'm going to take with me."? If said, "I'm going to ask you to come with me," I would think "why do you declare what you are going to ask? just ask what you want"I hope you got my point.M

Jooney · Accepted Answer

Hi, Mitsuwao.

It's one of the questions to which I've been hoping to get an answer from a native speaker.

Thanks for posting this question!

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Basically, it's a softer and more polite way of saying 'Come with me!'

Clive

Mitsuo23 · Answer

OK, thanks!
m

CalifJim · Answer

mitsuwao23"I'm going to ask you to come with me."

Your scenario describes "an agent", so we're probably talking about official police business, or something very like it. It is my understanding that unless the person is officially placed under arrest, a policeman cannot force anyone to do anything. He cannot legally say "You have to come with me" or "I'm going to take you with me". He can be prosecuted for (technically) kidnapping if he doesn't say the right words and perform the right actions. In his official capacity he has to request the person to come with him; he can't command them to come with him because he has no right to do so.

I realize that this does not answer the question about "going to". The "going to" indicates to me that the agent is preparing the other person psychologically to receive the request, just as a doctor might explain ahead of time what he is about to do in order not to alarm a patient. "Now I'm going to take off the bandage very quickly. You are going to feel a sharp pain, but it won't last very long. I'm going to ask you to take a deep breath now." The same psychology applies to "I'm going to ask you to come with me now". The statement of an intent to ask is taken as the equivalent of asking in this kind of situation.

CJ

Mitsuo23 · Answer

CJ, you are great. There's nothing more I can say. Next time I meet the sentence, I can feel it.

m

CalifJim · Answer

mitsuwao23Next time ... I can feel it.

Wow! Now that's progress!

CJ

Jooney · Answer

CJ, that was an excellent explanation!<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Nuance of this "I'm going to"

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