Can you

Can X refers to ability to do X. May X refers to permission to do X. Can you X is often used as a polite way to request X and as such as often used in place of May X. Keep in mind that modals are often misused to communicate politeness or deference to authority. The actual meaning and intended meaning are often different with modals. Also: may you (may + third person pronuns too) is not. 0 Both are fine grammatically, but it appears that you are aiming for a relatively formal setting in which case Could is slightly more formal-sounding. Neither would be incorrect, however. Could also implies more of a polite request which may be refused, rather than a polite order, although this is a soft implication and does not make Can. The problem is that can you x is like asking are you able to x whereas could you x is like asking are you willing to x So yeah, politeness isn't the issue at all. This is probably why, even if you're not aware of the nuanced meaning, could is more polite. It's not insulting the target by questioning their ability to perform something. I heard using 'could' is for politeness. When I request something, should I say Can you please or Could you please ? Does the latter sound over-polite and pretentious? 0 One of my textbooks says that would you ~? is the politest of the four to ask someone a favor. Another textbook, however, says that will you is the least polite and that can you and could you are politer than will you and would you. I would say that Can you and Could you were fairly informal - Could you throw me that teatowel? Would you is a polite request - Would you come this way please?. I think one of the first two would be best when asking a superior to do something for you, or Would you mind doing X? There's nothing impolite about can you on its own. Almost always, politeness comes down to tone of voice and body language, or, in the case of writing, context. Please include the research you've done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic. Could you please pass the salt? This is the proper, polite form of this request. We have both the conditional and the please in there, so the request has been softened about as far as it can be without resorting to overblown false humility ( I was wondering if I could possibly trouble you to do me the immense favor of please passing the salt ). 37 Can you please explain this to me? Could you please explain this to me? I am unable to figure out which to use which situation. I did google, and some posts say they are both the same, even if the second one is more formal. Other posts say could is the past tense of can, but in the above example, I don't think could is used as past tense of can.

Meta: