Anglický jazyk
9.1.2 Giving orders, advice, suggestions, asking for help, saying thank you
Orders are meant to make people do things. We use imperatives which are basic forms of verbs.
Examples:
Buy some apples!
Shut up!
Sit down!
Don't touch it!
But sometimes we want to make orders sound a little more polite, so we can add “will you?“ at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
Open the window, will you?
Pass me the salt, will you?
Be quiet, will you?
When you want to advise someone on something, you are basically giving your opinion on the subject. You can use the modal verb should/should not or opinion phrases as in 1.1.
Another option is to use the second conditional and say something like “If I were you, I would...“
Examples:
A: My belly aches.
B: You should go to the doctor.
A: I cough up yellow phlegm.
B: You shouldn't smoke. You should give up/quit/stop smoking.
A: I am confused by the tax questionnaire.
B: If I were you I'd ask a tax counsellor to help me.
A: I hesitate about buying that old house.
B: I wouldn't do it if I were you.
Suggestions are made by using the phrase “Let's...“ + (not) + infinitive. To emphasize it we might add “shall we?“ at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
Let's go to the cinema tonight!
Let's talk about it later, shall we?
Let's not talk about it right now.
Let's buy some icecream, shall we?
Sometimes we also need to ask for help. There are more way how to say it. Let's look at some common phrases.
Can you...?
Could you...?
Can/could/may I ask you to...?
Would you do me a favour? I need...
Would you be so kind and...?
Examples:
Can you open the window, please?
Could you pass me the pencil sharpener please?
May I ask you to leave?
Would you do me a favour? I need to borrow CZK 1000 until tomorrow. I would pay back the next day.
Would you be so kind and send me more details on the job?
After we receive some favour it is polite to say thanks.
We can say...
... thank you.
... thanks (use this with friends or small favours).
... thank you very much.
... thank you so much!
... thank you, that's very kind of you.
Your partner might reply something like:
You're welcome.
My pleasure.
That's nothing. (with friends)
That's alright. (with friends)