Check in at a hotel and ask for permission
I can ask for something politely, ask for permission and check in at a hotel.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
5 mincould — a polite request. The form is past, the meaning is present.
| Could you help me, please? | you ask someone to help you |
| Could I have the key, please? | you ask for something |
| Could you repeat that, please? | you didn't hear or understand |
could is the past form of can, but in a request it is not about time: the past form here makes a polite distance, not the past. Many languages do the same with the conditional: French pourriez-vous, Spanish ¿podría…?, German könnten Sie.
This is the third and last step of the ladder that began in the first lesson of A1:
| where | when it fits | |
|---|---|---|
| Sorry? / A coffee, please. | A1 #1, A1 #16 | always, the shortest |
| Can you…? / Can I…? | A1 #20 | ordinary politeness |
| Could you…? / Could I…? | here | with strangers, at a hotel, in a formal situation |
May I…? — permission, even more formal: May I come in?, May I use your phone? It is used almost only with I and we.
I'd like… — the polite "I want"; at A1 A coffee, please did its job: I'd like a coffee, please, I'd like to book a room. I'd = I would; after would like comes a noun or to + a verb. Don't confuse it with I like — "I enjoy it in general".
Would you mind + the -ing form — the most polite request, and its logic is the other way round:
| Would you mind opening the window? | is it a problem for you to open the window? |
| — Not at all. | — no problem at all (= I'll open it) |
Literally "would you be against it?", so you agree with a negative answer.
Common learner errors
written for your languagecould with to
✗ Could you to help me?
✓ Could you help me?
Learners add to because they know want to, have to and I'd like to. After all modal verbs — can, must, should, could, may — the verb comes without to.
Would you mind with to
✗ Would you mind to open the window?
✓ Would you mind opening the window?
French ça vous dérange d'ouvrir, Spanish ¿le importaría abrir…? and German etwas dagegen, das Fenster zu öffnen have an infinitive here. After mind there is only the -ing form.
An order with please
✗ Give me the key, please at reception → ✓ Could I have the key, please? In German, Spanish or Russian an imperative with "please" is polite enough. In English it still sounds like an instruction: a polite request is a question with could or can.
Yes to Would you mind
✗ Yes meaning "I'll do it" → this means "yes, I am against it". ✓ Not at all / Of course not / Sure. Learners hear a request, as with Could you…?, and say "yes"; but mind asks whether you are against it.
Pronunciation
3 minA request and a demand differ only in intonation; the words can be the same:
| Could you help me? ↘↗ | a request — a fall, then a rise |
| Could you help me. ↘ | flat and down — it sounds like an order |
could is unstressed — /kəd/, the letter l is silent, as in should. The stress falls on the main verb: Could you help me?
Text
3 minGood evening. I have a reservation. The name is Silva.
Could you spell that, please?
S-I-L-V-A.
Thank you. Could I see your passport?
Here you are. Could I have a room on a high floor?
Of course. Room 512. Would you mind waiting a few minutes?
Not at all.
Exercises
8–10 min1. Gap fill.
- help me, please?
- have the key, please?
- opening the window?
- come in?
Show the answers
2. Error correction.
- Could you to help me?
- Would you mind to open the window?
- — Would you mind waiting? — Yes. (meaning that you agree)
Show the answers
3. Matching.
- Sorry?
- Can you repeat that?
- Could you repeat that, please?
Show the answers
4. Transformation.
Make the request more polite: Help me. → Can… → Could…
Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- could in a request
- may for permission
- I'd like
- Would you mind + -ing
- three steps of politeness
Next — lesson 18: review of lessons 13–17.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
optional
Vocabulary for your deck
13 words- reservation /ˌrezəˈveɪʃn/ a room, a table or a seat that you have booked
- book /bʊk/ to reserve a room, a seat or a ticket
- key /kiː/ a small metal thing that opens a door
- floor /flɔː/ a level of a building
- lift /lɪft/ it takes you up and down in a building
- single room /ˈsɪŋɡl ruːm/ a hotel room for one person
- double room /ˈdʌbl ruːm/ a hotel room for two people
- check in /tʃek ˈɪn/ to arrive at a hotel and get your key
- check out /tʃek ˈaʊt/ to pay and leave a hotel
- towel /ˈtaʊəl/ a piece of cloth that you dry yourself with
- of course /əv ˈkɔːs/ yes, certainly
- mind /maɪnd/ to be against something; to feel it is a problem
- wait /weɪt/ to stay until someone comes or something happens
Writing
A dialogue of six lines when you check in at a hotel, with three different polite requests.
Example
— Good evening. I have a reservation. — Could I see your passport, please? — Here you are. Could I have a room on a high floor? — Of course. Would you mind waiting a few minutes? — Not at all. May I leave my bag here? — Of course.
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
Got a feature idea?
⚑ optional