Asking people to do things for us, or asking
if we are allowed to do something is often
quite difficult.
Perhaps you're just a shy person, and you
don't feel comfortable asking other people
to do things for you.
Maybe you're a very independent person, and
you like to take care of yourself.
Sometimes, we just don't feel like we know
the other person well enough.
Another big issue is language.
What is the best way in English to ask someone
to do something for you?
Stay tuned, as I make requests and asking
permission, easy.
Hi everyone, how are you?
I'm Edward from English Made Easy.
Humans are social animals.
The reason we've been so successful as a species
is because we have an unmatched ability to
communicate with each other.
If I need something, I can ask somebody to
do it for me.
I'm sure many of you mostly YouTube for information,
or to gain knowledge.
Humans are fantastic at sharing knowledge,
however, when it comes to asking somebody
face-to-face to teach you, or to explain something,
it can sometimes be difficult.
Imagine this situation: you go to lunch with
somebody you don't know very well, and the
bill comes.
You check to see if you can find your wallet
and you've forgotten it.
Do you feel comfortable asking this person
to pay for you?
Knowing how to ask these questions is really
important, but also knowing which is the right
question depending on who we're speaking to
is equally important.
In English, we call this formal language.
Let's start by learning how to make requests.
A request is when we ask somebody else to
do something for us.
We'll start with the informal options, and
we'll move to the more formal options.
If asking friends or family, there are two
great options: "can you?", or "could you?".
Both of these are always followed by verb
1.
For example, "Can you make me a cup of tea?",
"Can you drive me to the mall?", "Could you
take the dog for a walk?", "Could you buy
me a coke?".
'Can you' and 'could you' are the two most
common ways of making requests, that's because
we use these with friends, with family and
also people we know really well, like our
close colleagues.
However, if we want to make a request from
somebody we don't know very well, or perhaps
somebody who we consider to be senior to us,
we have to change and use some more formal
requests.
Two great formal options are: 'Would you mind'
or 'could you possibly'.
However, it's important to note that there's
a difference in grammar here.
'Would you mind' is followed by 'verb-ing',
while 'could you possibly' is followed by
'verb 1'.
Let's check out some examples.
"Would you mind forwarding these documents
to the team in Germany, please?", "Would you
mind lending me $20 for lunch?", "Could you
possibly tell me the time?", "Could you possibly
show me where the nearest bus station is?".
To summarize, there are four great options
for making requests: 'Can you', 'could you',
'would you mind', or 'could you possibly'.
Let's move away now from asking people if
they could do something for you, and instead
look at asking if you are allowed to do something.
This is known as asking for permission.
'Permission' means that you are allowed to
do something.
It isn't talking about if something is legal,
or illegal, it's talking about consent or
authorization to do something.
Clearly, it's really important to understand
how to ask for permission, but it's also important
to know which is the best way to ask for permission,
depending on who I'm speaking to.
I'll now show you 7 different ways how to
ask for permission.
In order of formality, from the least formal,
to the most formal.
The least formal is 'can I' plus 'verb 1'.
For example, "Can I go to the bathroom?".
Next is 'could I' plus 'verb 1'.
For instance, "Could I use your phone?".
We can also use 'is it OK if I' plus 'verb
1'.
"Is it OK if I submit my assignment next week?".
Another option is 'may I' plus 'verb 1'.
such as with the sentence "May I borrow $20?".
How about 'could I possibly' plus 'verb 1'?
"Could I possibly leave early?
I'm not feeling well.".
We can also use 'would it be OK if I' plus
' verb 2'.
"Would it be OK if I contacted them tomorrow?".
And the last options: 'would you mind if I'
plus 'verb 2'.
"Would you mind if I asked Mr. Jones to join
the meeting?".
There are plenty of different ways we can
ask somebody to do something for you, or to
ask permission, but one thing is true for
all of them: you are asking somebody a question,
therefore it's CRUCIAL that we are polite.
One way to guarantee that you are speaking
politely, is to use the word please.
Just put the word please at the beginning,
or at the end of the sentence.
For example, "Could you take me to the airport,
please?", or "Please, could you take me 
to 
the airport?".
