Making requests in English + video

Do you know how to make requests in English ? Are you familiar with the formal and informal ways of making requests ?

If no, stay with us in this article. If yes, still stay with us to learn more about it.

It’s time to improve English speaking skill and this time we are going to learn the different ways of making requests in English (the formal, semi-formal and informal ways) and how to accept or reject them. 

So, this lesson is going to have two different parts. In the first part, we are going to learn different ways of making requests in English , and in the second one, we are going to learn different ways of accepting and rejecting them. 

As a bonus part, we are going to have a lot of mini dialogues to see the sentences in real-life situations.

 

Part 1: The different ways of making requests in English

making requests in English

1- How to use imperative sentences when making requests in English ?

 

I’m sure that the first thing that caught your eye is “imperative”. What does it mean?

The meaning of an imperative sentence !

Look at these examples:

Bring me a glass of water

Give me a pen

 

All of the sentences above begin with a verb and ask someone to do something. So, an imperative sentence is used to command or to make a request.

 

Using imperative sentences for requests can be the easiest way and at the same time the rudest way. Let’s dive into some examples:

Close the door, please

Be quiet

Don’t make any noise

Turn off the TV

Don’t ever touch my phone

 

2 – Can you…..?

 

Using this structure will make your sentences more formal and polite when making requests in English. For example:

Can you answer the phone, please?

Can you call me his afternoon?

Can you get me a cup of coffee?

 

How to make it: Can you + the base form of the verb

 

To make your sentences even more polite when making requests in English, you can use “can you please + the base form of the verb”. For instance:

Can you please answer the phone?

Can you please call me this afternoon?

Can you please get me a cup of coffee?

Can you please water this plant?

-Can you please get me some water?

Can you please help me with my homework?

 

Learn more: There are multiple ways for asking and giving advices. To learn more about this topic, follow the link below:
asking for and giving advice

 

3- Could you please….?

could you please?

To make things even more formal when making requests in English , you can use “could” instead of “can”.

 

making request using could

 

Please remember that when we use “could” we are not making our sentence in the simple past tense. The sentence is still in its present form but it’s a polite request. It’s just more polite and more formal than “can you please…?”

Could you please answer the phone?

Could you please call me this afternoon?

Could you please get me a cup of coffee?

 

How to make it: Could you / Could you please + base form of the verb.

 

Could you please subscribe to my youtube channel?

Could you please turn the volume up?

Listen, could you please speak up? I cannot hear you.

Could you please clean up the table?

 

4- Will you please….?

 

We are diving into an even more formal form. You can use this structure in your sentences when you want to talk to your teacher, professor, etc. for example:

Will you please bring me a glass of water?

Will you please give me a pen?

 

How to make it: Will you / Will you please + base form of the verb

 

Let’s see some other examples:

 Will you please turn down the volume?

Will you please bring me a glass of water?

Will you please clean up your room?

 

 

Learn more: One of the amazing ways of improving the listening and speaking skill in English is to listen to podcasts. Follow the link below to learn more about it.
listen to english podcast

 

5- Would you please…..?

 

As you might have guessed, this one is more formal than the previous ones. So you can use them in more serious situations.

-Would you please answer the phone?

Would you please call me this afternoon?

-Would you please give me a cup of coffee?

 

How to make it: Would you / Would you please + base form of the verb

 

Would you please help me with my homework?

-Would you please give me a cup of coffee?

-Would you please scratch my back?

6- Would you mind….?

would you mind ?

 

This one is also very polite and very formal. Pay attention that the structure is a bit different from the other ones.

 

How to make it: would you mind + verb in ing form

 

Would you mind answering the phone, please?

-Would you mind turning down the volume?

-Would you mind opening the window?

-Would you mind getting the door?

There is also a pronunciation tip for this structure, in case you don’t know it, click here!

So, we learned how to make requests in English, from the least formal form to the most formal one. Now it’s time to move on to the second part!

 

Part 2: accepting and rejecting requests

To accept a request

to accept a request in English

In order to accept a request, you can use these ways:

  1. Sure
  2. Sure thing
  3. No problem
  4. Of course
  5. Consider it done

For example:

    -Could you please answer the phone? Sure thing!

    -Can you turn the volume down? No problem!

    -Will you help me with my homework? Of course!

    -Would you call her tonight? Consider it done!

To reject a request

to reject a request in English

 

There are many different ways of rejecting a request and saying no. I’m going to divide them into 3 groups:

Informal way of making requests in English

If you want to reject a request in an informal way, you can use these examples:

  1. No way!
  2. That’s not gonna happen.
  3. In your dreams.

Examples:

Can you answer the phone? No way!

Hey, turn the volume down. That’s not gonna happen.

-Go get me a cup of coffee. In your dreams!

Semi-formal way of making requests in English

A very easy way of rejecting a request is to say “No!”. but to say “no” alone is kind of awkward. It’s better to come up with some explanation. So you can use these structures.

  1. No, it’s just that…..
  2. No, the thing is….

Examples:

Hey, turn the volume down. No, it’s just that this is my favorite show!

Will you close the windows? No, the thing is I’m actually hot.

Formal way of making requests in English

What if you want to say no and reject a request in a formal way of making requests in English ? In this case, you can use this phrase:

1. I’m afraid….

For example:

    -I’m afraid not.

    -I’m afraid I can’t do this.

2.I’m sorry, but….

Example:

    -I’m sorry, but I can’t close the windows. Because it’s too hot in here.

Let’s read a mini dialogue:

    -Would you mind helping me with my homework?

    -I’m afraid I can’t. See, I’m kind of busy myself.

    -Will you please open the window?

    -I’m sorry but I’m kind of cold myself.

 

 

Learn more: One of the ways of talking about time in English is to use the verb “TAKE”. Follow the link below to learn more about it:
Talk about time in English

 

To sum up

different ways of making request in English

In this lesson, we’ve learned different ways of making requests in English :

 

Using imperative sentences

Can you…..?

Could you please….?

Will you please….?

Would you please…..?

Would you mind….?

And some ways to accept them

Sure

Sure thing

No problem

Of course

Consider it done

And some other ways to reject them

 

Informal ways of making request in English

 

 

semi-formal way of making request

 

formal ways of making requests

4 thoughts on “Making requests in English + video

  1. Mohamed Ali says:

    Thanks a million again.
    I’d really appreciate your time and you.
    It’s super extraordinary, amazing lesson I have ever learned from poc english channel.

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