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Hello everyone! And welcome to Your English Update, a podcast by EZOnlineEnglish.

We’re back! You’re listening to season two! I’m Sahara, your teacher, and in this episode we are kicking things off with a lesson about how to sound polite in English. In some cultures, especially Asian ones, expressing respect is very important and there are clear rules and titles to use. However, in English it’s not always clear and this is because in Western cultures there is not as much emphasis placed on formality. Of course, using please and thank you sounds polite, but also one of the best strategies is also using sentence structures with would and could. I’ll show you how to do it. Let’s go!

Could I have some water, please?

请给我一些水，好吗?

Use the “Could I have some…” structure as a polite way to request something from a friend, a coworker, a boss, even a parent, an acquaintance, or a barista at a coffee shop... Anyone really! Like I said, there isn’t as much emphasis on formality, so these structures are universal and can be used with anyone if you’d like to sound polite and respectful. Let’s go over some example sentences using this structure:

“Could I have a moment, please?”

“Could I have the day off tomorrow?”

“Could I have the red one, please?”

I would like chocolate, please.

我想要巧克力，谢谢。

You can use the “I would like…” structure when you want to politely make a choice. Sure, you can use “want” in this situation (I want the chocolate), but “would” does sound more polite. In fact, we usually teach this structure to young children because they often say, “I want this. I want that,” all of the time. Let’s go over some more examples:

“I would like the salad, please”

“I would like to see the movie this weekend.”

“I would like the afternoon appointment.”

Let me get you some coffee.

我给你拿点咖啡吧。

“Let me get you,” is a polite way to offer someone a favor. Specifically, “Let me get you some coffee,” means that you are retrieving or going to get them some coffee. And notice that it is not a question! This structure implies that you are not waiting for them to decline or accept the favor. You are just going to do it for them whether they like it or not! Okay, let’s go over some more examples using this structure:

“Let me get you a jacket.”

“Let me get you a refill.”

“Let me get you a new plate.”

Would you mind going to the store for me?

你介意帮我去下商店吗？

“Would you mind,” is a structure used for when you want to politely ask for a favor. If they accept your favor, then people will usually answer with, “I don’t mind!” to affirm that they will do it for you. Here are some other examples,

“Would you mind giving me a ride to the mall?”

 “Would you mind if I used your bathroom?”

“Would you mind if I used this chair?”

Alright everyone! A quick note before we review: intonation and pitch are important when communicating politeness. Try to use a higher pitch and an intonation that goes up at the end of the sentence to communicate politeness. Listen closely and I will demonstrate it for you as we review:

Could I have some water, please?
请给我一些水，好吗?

I would like chocolate, please.
我想要巧克力，谢谢。

Let me get you some coffee.
我给你拿点咖啡吧。

Would you mind going to the store for me?
你介意帮我去下商店吗？

Thank you everyone for supporting us as we begin season two of Your English Update, a podcast by EZ Online English. We have a lot of fun and useful topics scheduled for this season! So stay tuned for our weekly updates! And as always, please check out our website: ezonlinenglish.com There we have all of the transcripts and translations so you can read along if you are having trouble listening to me. That is the letter E and Z Online English dot com. And I’ll see you in the next lesson! Goodbye!