Can I? Could I? May I?

1,902,320 views ・ 2019-03-02

Learn English with Rebecca


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
Hi.
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I'm Rebecca from engVid.
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In this lesson I'm going to show you three simple ways that you can ask a polite question
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in English.
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Okay?
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Now, usually when we're asking a question, it's we're asking if we can do something or
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we're asking permission, or we're asking someone else to do something for us, in which case
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we are requesting that they do something.
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All right?
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And there are three key words that you can use for this purpose, but in different ways.
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So, let's look at what they are.
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All right.
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So, those three words are: "can", "could", and "may".
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Now, of course, you've heard those words before and I'm sure you use them as well, but let's
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be really sure when to use which one.
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So, it's very easy.
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We use "can" in more informal situations.
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All right?
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What do I mean by "informal"?
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For example, with your family or friends.
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All right?
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We use "could" in more semi-formal situations.
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"Semi-formal" means a little bit formal.
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For example, with your colleagues, people you work with.
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Right?
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With your hairdresser perhaps, with a salesperson in a store.
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All right?
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There we could use "could" so we kind of know that person or we don't know that person too
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well, but it's not a very formal situation.
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And the last is in formal situations when we use "may".
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So, what's a "formal situation"?
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Well, for example, if you're talking to a client, or a customer, or you're at an interview,
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then you want to be on your best behaviour, use your best manners, be very polite, be
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very formal and proper, and that's when we use "may".
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Now, there is a little difference in terms of the grammar of how we use these three words.
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So, with "can" and "could", we can use those two with all of the pronouns.
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So, we can say: "can I", "can you", "can we", "could they", "could he", "could she", "could it".
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All right?
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Can use those with all of the pronouns.
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But when we come to "may", we can only use it with "I" or "we".
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All right?
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"May I do this?" or "May we" - you can't really ask permission for somebody else so much,
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so this is...
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These are the two ways we use "May".
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All right?
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Sometimes you might hear it with one or two other pronouns, but really, these are the
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most common.
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All right?
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So that's what you want to be able to use so you can always be 100% right.
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Now, let's look at the same question and how it's different with the three words.
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All right?
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So, let's say I'm at home and I ask someone from my family: "Can I have some orange juice?"
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All right?
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So, there I'm using "can" because it's really informal.
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Now let's say I'm at the mall, I'm at the food court and I'm ordering some juice, so
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I say: "Could I have some orange juice?"
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All right?
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Slightly more formal.
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And now let's pretend that we're in a fancy restaurant and I'm ordering orange juice,
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so then I say: "May I have some orange juice?"
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Okay?
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Now, you could add the word "please" also, but with some of these it's already very polite,
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so you don't have to go overboard, you don't have to do too much, you don't have to always
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say "please", especially when you're asking for yourself.
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Okay?
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If you're requesting something that someone else do, then often we do add the "please"
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as well.
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Okay?
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Now, what are some of the responses?
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We're not really focusing on the responses in this lesson, but let me just tell you what
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would be the appropriate responses-positive responses and negative responses-to these
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questions.
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So, if someone said: "Can I have some orange juice?"-informal-the answer might be: "Sure,
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here you go."
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Or: -"Could I have some orange juice?"
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-"Yes, of course."
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-"May I have some orange juice?"
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-"Certainly."
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Okay?
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So you see that the formality of the question matches the formality of the answer.
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If it was negative: -"Can I...?"
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-"Sorry, we're all out."
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-"Could I...?"
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-"I'm sorry, we're all out."
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-"May I...?"
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-"I'm afraid we're all out."
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Okay?
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Same basic information, but represented quite differently.
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So now let's look at some more examples.
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All right.
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So, informally, we could say: "Can I help you wash the dishes?"
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That would be a really nice thing to say to someone.
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Okay.
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All right.
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Or: "Can you clear the table, please?"
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Now, you see here because I'm requesting something of someone else, it's perfectly nice and fine
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to say "please" at the end.
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Okay?
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"Can you clear the table, please?"
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What does that mean: "Clear the table"?
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After you finish eating, you know there are a lot of dishes on the table, and when you
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take those dishes to the kitchen or wherever, and you clear the table.
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That's called "clearing the table".
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All right?
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Next, in a semi-formal situation where we're using "Could", we could say: "Could I get
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your email address?"
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Or: "Could you send me the report, please?"
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All right?
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That's, again, some business examples.
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Very common questions that we need to ask people.
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All right?
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And here, the more formal situation: "May I help you?"
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This is probably the most common question that is used in customer-oriented situations.
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Every time you walk into a store, especially a fancy store: "May I help you?", "May I help
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you?"
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Or on the phone, if you have a customer service job.
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Okay?
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And then it's sometimes a little bit more specific: "May I help you carry your bags,
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ma'am?"
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Let's say in a hotel.
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All right?
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So, anytime you're trying to be really polite to that other person, you want to use "May".
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This was...
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These were my examples.
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Now let's see how you do.
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All right, so now you need to decide whether to use: "Can I", " Could I", or "May I" in
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these situations.
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All right?
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So, you're talking to your professor.
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What do you say?
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"_______ submit my paper on Monday?"
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"Can I", "Could I", "May I".
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Well, this is something where you are going to have to decide.
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Perhaps you'll say: "Could I submit my paper on Monday?" or, depending on your relationship
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with your professor, depending on the personality of the professor, depending on the personality
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of the university or the country that you live in, you might need to use some more formal
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version.
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"May I submit my paper on Monday?"
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I would probably say, in that situation: "May I" because I really want to be able to submit
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my paper late, which is probably what we're asking here.
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All right?
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So, sometimes even if your relationship with someone is semi-formal, you might still want
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to act a little more formal because of your specific request.
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All right?
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Okay.
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Now, here you're talking to a friend, so what do you say?
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"_______ open the window?"
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So, here, it's pretty straightforward: "Can I open the window?"
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All right.
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You're talking to a hotel guest: "_______ help you get a taxi?"
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So, again, here you want to be very formal.
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"May I help you get a taxi?"
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Good.
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You're talking to a salesperson in the store: "_______ speak to the manager?"
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What are you going to say?
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This is one of those semi-formal situations.
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All right?
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So, you probably say: "Could I speak to the manager?"
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All right?
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Good.
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Hope you got those.
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Now let's move here to: "Can you" or "Could you", all right?
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So, you're talking to a child, your child, probably, so what do you say?
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"_______ clean your room?"
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So, probably most parents would say: "Can you clean your room?"
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You can always be polite to your children because you're also trying to teach them,
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so you could always say: "Could you clean your room, please?" because that way you are
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modelling how they should speak, so that's fine.
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But on an everyday basis, lots of people would probably say: "Can you clean your room?"
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Okay?
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Or at least add the "please".
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Next, let's say you're speaking to an audience and you want them to switch off their cell
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phones.
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Right?
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So: "_______ switch off your cell phones?"
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So, here, you would say: "Could you".
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Okay?
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It's more formal.
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"Could you switch off your cell phones, please?"
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All right?
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There would be a good place to put the "please" in.
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All right.
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You're talking to your brother: "_______ call me later?"
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So, what would you say?
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"Can you", right?
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Informal relationship, you know him: "Can you call me later?
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I'm busy right now."
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Next, you're asking a receptionist: "_______ connect me to the sales department,
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please?"
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So, what would you say?
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Again, you want to be a little bit more polite.
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"Could you connect me to the sales department, please?"
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All right?
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Now, that was really good.
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Hope you got all of those right.
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If you want to really master these three words: "Can I", "Could I", and "May I", then please
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go to our website at www.engvid.com, and there you can do a quiz on this and really master
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it so that you know it once and for all, and that's it; you don't have to keep going round
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and round - you've got it.
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All right?
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And also subscribe to my YouTube channel for lots of other delightful lessons that will
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help you improve your English much faster.
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Thanks very much for watching.
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Bye for now.
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