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Mitsuo23 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Past tense to be polite.
Hi,
For politeness, English sentences change the tense into the past, such as "I'd appreciate if you gave me a day off tomorrow" or "did you need a bag?". And I'm wondering if there is any limitation that this rule cannot be applied. Like,
"That would be great" rather than "That will be great" in answering to the question, "do you want to join for dinner tonight?" has some element of politeness in it? Or it just means conditional?
Thank you,
m
For politeness, English sentences change the tense into the past, such as "I'd appreciate if you gave me a day off tomorrow" or "did you need a bag?". And I'm wondering if there is any limitation that this rule cannot be applied. Like,
"That would be great" rather than "That will be great" in answering to the question, "do you want to join for dinner tonight?" has some element of politeness in it? Or it just means conditional?
Thank you,
m
Top answer
I think the guideline holds up well. Again (as in your other post) it is conditional used as a courtesy: Do you want to have dinner with us tonight? That would be great [ if you really wanted to invite me ].
- I think the guideline holds up well.
- Again (as in your other post) it is conditional used as a courtesy: Do you want to have dinner with us tonight?
- That would be great [ if you really wanted to invite me ].
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2 Answers
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I think the guideline holds up well. Again (as in your other post) it is conditional used as a courtesy:
Do you want to have dinner with us tonight?
That would be great [if you really wanted to invite me].
Do you want to have dinner with us tonight?
That would be great [if you really wanted to invite me].
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Thank you, again, I should've asked you already. I have been using this kind of expression without knowing what I exactly mean.
m
m
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