Can you please / could you please / please can you (2025)

Good morning,

Could you please give us some context and an example sentence?

Can you please give us some context and an example sentence?

Please can you give us some context and an example sentence.

My questions are:
1) The first sentence with "could" is more polite than the second one with "can". Do you agree?

2) The second sentence has been written by a native English speaker. I'm not sure whether it's a question or a statement. If it's a question, then why hasn't he used question mark at the end? If it's a statement, then why has he used "can" just after "please"?-- that makes it sounds like a question, but perhaps it isn't, because no question mark at the end

Thanks a lot!

"Can" and "could" are both equally polite - the key word is "please", which is present in both sentences.

The sentence beginning with "please can..." is a question, and it should have a question mark. It is a mistake/omission by the writer. If the sentence was "Please give us some context and an example sentence" (without "can you"), then it is imperative, and shouldn't have a question mark.

Dretagoto said:

"Can" and "could" are both equally polite - the key word is "please", which is present in both sentences.

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I'm not sure if I've understood it right. Do you mean to say that the first two sentences above without the word "please" would both be equally polite or that they would both show

politeness if we don't include the word "please" in either of them?

Could you give us some context?
Can you give us some context?

Are those

equally polite? (as you say the words "can" and "could" are equally polite.) Or are those

not polite at all? (as you say the word "please" is the key factor for politeness, which isn't present there.)

Lun-14 said:

I'm not sure if I've understood it right. Do you mean to say that the first two sentences above without the word "please" would both be equally polite or that they would both show

no

politeness if we don't include the word "please" in either of them?

Could you give us some context?
Can you give us some context?

Are those

sentences

equally polite? (as you say the words "can" and "could" are equally polite.) Or are those

sentences

not polite at all? (as you say the word "please" is the key factor for politeness, which isn't present there.)

Click to expand...

The key factor in relative politeness there is the presence of the word "please", which is far more significant than whether you use "can" or "could". I'm not saying that either sentence is impolite if you don't include it, but in my opinion they both then sound slightly more like an imperative than a request.

The difference between "can" and "could" has been discussed many times before in the forum, but basically "could" hedges more. I would say it's a more hesitant way of framing the question rather than necessarily a politer one.

DonnyB said:

The key factor in relative politeness there is the presence of the word "please", which is far more significant than whether you use "can" or "could". I'm not saying that either sentence is impolite if you don't include it, but in my opinion they both then sound slightly more like an imperative than a request.

The difference between "can" and "could" has been discussed many times before in the forum, but basically "could" hedges more. I would say it's a more hesitant way of framing the question rather than necessarily a politer one.

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Please check if I've understood correctly.

Could you give us some context?
Can you give us some context?

-> They both are impolite. They both sound like a command/order. The first one is less rude than the second one.

Could you please give us some context?
Can you please give us some context?

-> They both are equally polite.

Could you please give us some context?
Can you give us some context?

->The first one is polite; The second one isn't.

Could you give us some context?
Can you please give us some context?

->The second one is polite; the first one isn't.

Please comment on each case and correct me if I'm wrong
Thanks!

I think you may have misunderstood the concept of relative politeness: it depends on phrasing (and indeed the context - i.e. what else you say/ask for), not just simply whether you use the word "please" or not.

So "Can/could you give us some context" is not in itself impolite. "Give us some context", "Where's your context?" and just "Context?" (which I have actually seen someone use on here ) I would label as rude.

You could also avoid a direct question altogether by saying something like "If you were to give us some context, we'd probably be able to give you a better reply because your question is difficult to answer without any". You could add "please" to that, but I don't think it would necessarily increase the politeness level.

Last but not least, a lot depends on how the questioner interprets what they've been asked to do.

I often request context using polite question forms but without a question mark because if I were saying it I wouldn't be using a question intonation. My voice would go down at the end.
That's because I am making a polite but strong suggestion or even a mild order, not making a polite request.

Naturally, I disagree that a question form always has to be indicated by a question mark.

Lun-14 said:

Please check if I've understood correctly.

Could you give us some context?
Can you give us some context?

-> They both are impolite. They both sound like a command/order. The first one is less rude than the second one.

Click to expand...

As Donny said in the post to which you were replying (and which you quoted), no.

DonnyB said:

I'm not saying that either sentence is impolite if you don't include it, but in my opinion they both then sound slightly more like an imperative than a request.

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They're not impolite -- they're just less polite than the versions with please. Delivery is the important thing.

I find them irritating without that 'please' (an even more irritating without a 'thank you') - that 'please' makes all the difference. Without the 'please', especially when 'can' is used rather than 'could', I am so tempted to reply 'No, I can't and I won't'.
'Can you tell me ...' is one step up from the order 'Tell me ...'
It sounds like the quizmaster on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'.

It often seems that very few learners are taught how to ask politely. It costs nothing, as they say.

I never say either can or could you directly if I can help it. I usually say "could I ask you to" if I'm speaking to a stranger.

In the matter of asking for context on this forum, Donny's suggestion seems best. However, unless it is obviously rude, I think it's best just to assume a businesslike attitude and accept that people don't have a lot of time, so they are being a little brief in their statements, not rude. It's difficult to analyze the statements in post #5 because ... they lack context.