Can you please or Could you please
- Thread starter rempress
- Start date
Both are correct. The first is more direct, and the second is more polite. Could you please . . . gives slightly more room for refusal than Can you please . . .
Can you asks if there is an ability to send the samples.
Could you assumes there is an ability but asks if there is a willingness.
In actual practice, however, most people will use the two versions interchangeably.
Added to previous thread.
Cagey, moderator
Could/can anyone tell me what the difference between 'can' and 'could' in the following sentences is? And, are they interchangeable in the following context? What Difference do the words 'can' and 'could' create when making a request or an offer?
Here are the examples:
As usual, if there is anything ungrammatical in my writing, please correct it.
Cagey, moderator
Could/can anyone tell me what the difference between 'can' and 'could' in the following sentences is? And, are they interchangeable in the following context? What Difference do the words 'can' and 'could' create when making a request or an offer?
Here are the examples:
Suppose, I am looking for a particular bank but I don't know where the bank is. I meet an old man and want to know the direction of the bank from him. So I ask him "Can/could you please tell me where the bank is?"
Could/can anyone please teach me how to share videos and photos on Facebook?
As usual, if there is anything ungrammatical in my writing, please correct it.
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"Could" is slightly more polite in your examples, and I would use it rather than "can," although the difference is actual meaning here is not significant.
You can use either "can" or "could", Subhajit12. "Could" is more deferential.
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