How to Make Requests in English Basic English Phrases

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back anyway to our weekly live stream my

name is Alisha and today we’re going to

talk about how to make offers and

requests how to make offers and requests

so I mentioned in our previous live

stream I mentioned it on Twitter that

some of the key grammar points we might

use today will be can and may and will

also maybe talk a little bit about some

and any so if you have questions about

those grammar points you can check them

there are videos on the YouTube channel

so you can review those grammar points

after the lesson today if you like oh

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alrighty um with that then yes today’s

topic is how to make offers and requests

so we’re going to kind of look at three

different groups for today’s lesson

three different categories first I’m

going to talk about making requests that

will be number one do we’ll talk about

making offers and three the third part

of today’s lesson will be responding and

maybe making compromises - so I saw some

of your comments from the last few live

streams so I’m going to try to write

pretty clearly on the board today sorry

I know my writing isn’t always super

clear okay but let’s begin with today’s

topic if chats difficult over there I

can pull it up here no worries control

desk I can see chat on my phone no

problem we got it we got it so YouTube

can be there and I can check chat over

here okay so let’s begin first part and

first part for today’s lesson will be

making requests so I’m going to put

requests on this side of the board over

here so first topic for today requests

requests so requests just to review a

request when you want someone to do

something or when you need something you

can make a request a request so let’s

begin with a very casual very simple

request form which is oh I’ve just lost

it can I go back down to thank you okay

so first one will just be can i okay

can I so this is when you want maybe

permission to do something or maybe you

want to receive something depends a

little bit on the request so here you

can see this is for I when you yourself

want something can I have some cake can

I go to the

Supermarket with you for example can I

you can replace the I in this with the

person you are asking on behalf of so

for example if you’re asking for like a

friend like can my friend join today’s

lesson or can my parents come to the

party you can change this part of the

request to reflect the person that you

are asking on behalf of can I do

something okay

so can I though oh you’re going to check

the Instagram okay cool so can I if you

want to ask for an item so you can use

some when you’re making requests for an

item so when you’re using like a noun

phrase can I have some cake was my

example sentence can I have some extra

time for example hi welcome

so can I have some blah blah blah this

is when you want to receive an item not

when you are asking permission to do

something so can i okay so this is sort

of the basic introduction to today’s

today’s topic but I want to move on to

the second part many of you have

questions about this actually can I

versus may I what’s the difference

actually in in everyday modern English

there’s really not a difference between

can I and may i we use them in the same

way however may I does sound more polite

and if you want to be like correct

historically may I is arguably more

correct in terms of asking permission

for things so if you’re the kind of

person that wants to be really really

correct all the time is really strict

you should use may I when you make

requests like in school for example may

I use the bathroom or may I borrow your

pen in modern American English this

probably sounds a little too formal in

many cases when we’re speaking with our

friends when speaking with friends we

just use can I

like can I come and fix the Instagram

for example you can’t see it but our

producers behind the screen right now

is it good no all right so can i and may

i are both used to make requests may i

is going to sound more formal than can i

can i okay so as i said may i borrow my

pen or borrow your pen

yeah nice examples in YouTube chat may I

use this desktop computer good oh yeah

what what on yeah in YouTube says may I

help you yeah may I is used in like

service situations may I help you a nice

example coozes may I get your number

that’s funny okay good so nice examples

of this

all right so may I sounds more polite

than can I in most cases good good good

good

all right to lots of people watching hi

youtube my facebook ok let’s continue on

then to another another one let’s go on

to this simple pattern will you will you

so this is the beginning to a question

when you would like someone else to do

something for you so can i and may i

these are asking like there’s something

I want there’s something I want to do

there’s something I want to receive when

you’re using will you will you will you

do something for me will you give me

your pen will you give me some time will

you hang out with me later for example

so this is when you want someone else to

do something for you so here you can see

we’re focusing on the other person in

this question will you will you yeah

someone on facebook says will you marry

me perfect example you’re focusing on

the other person will you marry me

that’s exactly it good lots of that will

you open the door please yeah lots of

good examples on Facebook and YouTube

chat definitely check the chat for some

good example sentences will you give me

a hint

perfect perfect good nice ones ok so

will you sorry will you is used when you

want to focus your requests on the other

person the other

will you good excellent okay and then

this is I gave some examples and your

examples will you marry me for example

those are using a verb you can however

as we talked about before use some to

request to request an item so will you

give me some of something again will you

give me some time for example when

you’re speaking with a boss maybe will

you give me some so why do I point this

out sometimes students use any instead

of some we cannot use any in these

examples we’ll use any when you’re

asking like an information question but

we do not use any when we’re making

requests and when we’re making offers

please use some can I have some will you

give me some may I have some please use

something in these cases will you give

me a break good will you give me some

money nice will you give me your hands

uh-oh that expression will you give me a

hand use the singular will you give me a

hand this is a casual way to ask for

help give me a hand will you give me a

hand

thanks money good good examples good

examples guys will you do me a favor

will you cook for me ah good one ok

let’s go on to the next example for

requests then please is it ok the next

one I’m running out of space I want ok

I’m going to include I want here just

because some people do use it but I

don’t really recommend using I want to

make requests I don’t recommend this

because it sounds rather direct and it

sounds impolite as well if you go to a

restaurant for example you say I want

this I want that you sound very direct

like you’re demanding this thing I want

something you can use it with friends

like I want to go to the movies later or

I want to go hiking this weekend but

when you’re speaking with someone you

don’t know or you’re in a service

situation I want can sound a little too

direct so I don’t really recommend it

yeah so but you will some people will

use this I don’t consider this very

polite for requests Instagram is up yeah

all right so our producer just fixed our

Instagram feed hi Instagram if you’re

just joining on Instagram we have an

Instagram channel which is what English

class 101 101

Oh 101 calm okay thank you

I’ll see you back in the box

good bye alright so I want is probably

not so good to use but you will hear

native speakers using this okay let’s go

to the last one that I hear a lot of

questions about from you guys and from

other students can you and could you so

many of you asked this question what’s

the difference between can you and could

you can you and could you so this one

it’s like can you and could you we use

them both to make requests here I used

can I at the beginning but when you want

to focus again you want someone else to

do something for you can you could you

do this thing for me both of these are

fine for making requests could you just

sounds more formal could just are you

can sing could you sounds more formal it

sounds more polite so this one is better

to use if you want to sound extra extra

formal extra play I’m gonna move because

I’m in the way Hangouts again okay could

you is gonna sound more formal than can

you okay

nice good examples to could is more

polite yes can you help me good can you

help me can’t you shut up that’s not a

very nice request person oh my gosh

could you give me a hand yes perfect

could you give me a hand in the singular

yes that is correct someone said could

you is more polite yeah can you give me

your real name yeah perfect very nice

could you pass me some bread ah another

good point then maybe that goes along

with

some and any that I briefly talked about

before some is used with with countable

nouns and with uncountable nouns but

when you use an uncountable noun like

bread you don’t need to use the article

so someone said could you pass me a

bread close could you pass me some bread

to pass me some bread or a slice of

bread so actually there are countable

and uncountable noun videos up on the

YouTube channel go check those out for

sure all right whew that was a lot let’s

take a quick break then nice thanks for

sending your great example sentences

yeah yeah we’re busy in here today so

let’s take a break as always we have PDF

stuff for you guys free stuff so today

we have as always Oh are they gonna see

that no maybe I don’t know okay I’ll do

this now um so I was thinking of what

might be good to introduce for this

grammar point when you’re making

requests I was thinking it’s good to use

these patterns when you are eating at

restaurants so this is the free dining

vocabulary and dining question cheat

sheet pdf this is free you can get this

from English class 101.com the link is

below the video on YouTube and above the

video on Facebook so this actually

includes a few like food-related

vocabulary words and questions for sure

but you can use these requests as well

with these like can I have some water

may I have some water could you bring me

a beer for example so I thought this was

a nice one to use here yes I know I’m

sorry you can’t see this but you can

download it like right now actually for

free so check this out I think you’re

gonna see the all of them that you can

get yeah they’re there so that’s

everything that you can find from the

links below the video on YouTube and

above the video on Facebook so please go

download these they are free hmm yeah

actually lots of people do check them

yeah so we’re pretty we’re pretty

excited every lesson

and more and more people check them out

and we’re adding new ones also so

definitely have a look at those

okey-dokey artichokey let’s go along

shall we or no

see we have more time okay good if

you’re just joining yeah today’s topic

is how to make requests how to make

requests

I’m very large today or very small I

don’t know okay anyway let’s get going

if you’re just joining please don’t

forget to like the video and maybe share

the video as well always appreciated but

let’s continue on to the second part of

today’s lesson then so I felt small okay

so let’s continue on to the second part

of today’s lesson which is offer so the

first part if you missed it the first

part of today’s lesson was making

requests the second part is going to be

making offers so let’s move on to the

other side of the board making offers

all right so again we’re going to use

this some grammar point that we talked

about in the first part of today’s

lesson so let’s begin offers to make an

offer do you want okay so maybe a basic

a basic offer do you want do you want

this is probably most useful when you

want to offer an object when you want to

offer an item do you want some cake do

you want something to drink for example

do you want so you’re offering someone

an item an object of some kind do you

want so you can use some with this if

you’re offering a noun like I just said

do you want some cake for example do you

want some beer do you want some pizza

for example so but you can use you can

use a verb here do you want to watch a

movie do you want to go for a drive do

you want to take a nap for example you

can use a verb with this as well yes

producer does want to take a nap so you

can use a verb with this with this

grammar pattern how I

when you are making an offer

specifically offering something to

someone do you want some of that thing

maybe do you want a as well if you’re

offering the singular good do you want

some water a nice example do you want a

beer perfect good do you want to get

some water perfect nice ones guys it’s

good do you want to hang out sometime

very nice okay good hey Junior

yes it is live for real Anderson okay

good so let’s go on then to the even

more casual version of this offer which

is just wanna wanna so we’re using want

to but we’re dropping do and you

we’re just saying wanna and then we

follow this with a verb phrase want to

go to the beach wanna take a break want

to get lunch so extremely short

extremely casual we typically use this

for actions actually so you can use this

with get and a noun my example just now

like I said wanna I’ll erase this for

example I said want to get lunch we’ll

use this with like meal times quite

often want to get lunch you want to get

dinner do you want to get breakfast you

can use that too all of the above yeah

so you can use get with this before a

meal or a drink to want to get a drink

perfect perfect very natural what a

monster this is our producer good she

likes energy drinks good okay so these

are quite casual expressions you can use

do you wanna and wanna those are great

but let’s move along to some more formal

examples you will hear these in service

situations and you might use them in

business situations let’s take a look

okay first one I think most of you know

this would you like and then I’ll

include it here would you like some of

something so in a service situation like

if you visit a restaurant for example

would you like some water would you like

some appetizers for example would you

like a simple and formal expression a

polite expression you

used in service situations so you can

use this in business as I said in

business meetings when meeting a client

for example would you like an same thing

with this do you want or wanna you can

use this for verbs as well like would

you like to see a movie with me for

example would you like to get a drink as

well you can use this to just sounds

more formal than do you wanna so this is

great for polite to situations okay

let’s look at one more let’s look at one

more quite formal typically used in just

in-service situations can I offer you

can I offer you some so here we’re using

the word offer in the offer so like

common in a service situation like I

said can I offer you some snacks

I don’t know snacks are quite informal

but can I offer you some tea for example

something it’s like maybe quite polite

something you would imagine in a very

polite or a very formal situation making

an offer there so you may hear this one

in I don’t know in meetings perhaps this

one would you like would you like is

perhaps more common I feel yeah some

relief from the strains of daily life

indeed good nice examples guys would you

like a cup of wine close for wine we use

glass as a counter instead of cup of

wine we use glass of wine nice examples

in the YouTube chat

would you like an umbrella ah yeah good

an umbrella so a singular remember when

you’re using the singular part the

singular form of the noun use a or an

when you’re using a countable now so

lots of grammar review for at this point

today good ones in on Facebook ah on

Facebook can I offer you my house oh my

goodness that’s quite an offer be

careful there other ones can I offer you

some beer yeah quite formal though quite

formal so just just remember that would

you like to help me that’s

that’s a very interesting request on

Facebook someone alia said would you

like to help me that’s kind of its it’s

correct

grammatically but it’s you’re asking for

someone to help you so instead of would

you like to help me which makes it sound

like you’re trying to persuade the other

person it’s like can you help me might

be a little more natural I think all

right good good good

let’s finish there for now nice example

of you guys would you like to drink

something with me perfect perfect very

good okay let’s take another break then

thanks very much for that so as I said

yeah there’s lots of free stuff

available on the website as always for

you guys free stuff

yeah free stuff yes travel I am I’m

going to share the next one the next one

I’m gonna share I was thinking this one

checking into a hotel would be good as

well as when you’re traveling so we can

use today’s today’s topic making

requests and offers along with like when

you’re traveling when you’re checking

into a hotel or when you’re staying at a

hotel so these are a sentences you can

use in a hotel here’s a perfect example

could you please call me a taxi could

you please call me a taxi so we’ve just

talked about this request pattern could

you could you so these are great

opportunities to use these requests and

offers so please check this out this is

one of many free PDFs at English class

101.com

please check the link below the video on

youtube and above the video on Facebook

Twitter twitch Instagram I think it’s on

the profile page on Instagram if you’re

watching there I can’t tell hi so please

check that out they are free all right

maybe yes okay so I think we’re gonna

see it again if you missed it before if

you’re watching on YouTube and Facebook

you will see it again if you’re watching

on Instagram there’s a bunch of PDFs

that you can see on the

the channel but if you can’t see on

Instagram because there’s no screen on

Instagram these are some examples we’re

looking at today checking into a hotel

and maybe eating it restaurants are

quite useful for this week’s lesson okay

so with that let’s go on to our last

topic for today so if you’re just

joining please don’t forget to like the

video of course share as well we really

appreciate it

but let’s go on to the last part of

today’s lesson I’m going to erase the

board don’t worry you can check the

video later so I want to talk about how

to answer natural responses for these

things okay so to respond to offers and

requests some on says Rachel you never

answer me my name is not Rachel maybe

that’s why okay so let’s talk about

positive responses positive responses

okay

positive responses and then we’ll talk

about negative responses too and then

we’ll talk about compromises okay let’s

look at positive responses to begin with

okay so for requests and offers let’s

just make a big list short is good short

is fine you don’t need to give a long

response to these things so sure it’s

great sure but this pronunciation sure

in American English sure sure

sounds good we’ll see that later of

course of course

so of course is like yes of course I’m

going to do that there’s no worries at

all

other casual ones yep yeah another great

example maybe you know this one sorry

you bet you bet oh you bet you bet quite

casual as well you bet it’s a good one

for offers if someone offers you

something you can say yes please like do

you want some cake

do you want something too

yes please yes please is a good offer

you cannot use this for a request so

this is only when you accept something

yes please it’s a polite way to accept

something another one for offers only

yes thank you yes thank you this is only

for offers again so when you accept

something yes thank you or yes thanks

it’s okay to another good one that’s

very casual is totally totally you can

use this for requests or offers yeah on

Facebook

raaah gender says sure or definitely is

good as well nice fun Steph on YouTube

says certainly also certainly yes

certainly lets out of here certainly is

good that sounds more formal certainly

like can you do this for me certainly or

would you like we don’t really use

certainly for offers though so like

would you like some cake certainly it’s

like it’s more for a request we use this

more for requests that’s good and then

we saw great ones

sure thing says Oscar yeah sure or sure

thing quite casual and friendly nice

ones guys of course uh of course or of

course uh yeah yeah I know there’s not

much facing backward okay of course this

is of one F of course of course not off

course off course means you’re going off

of a path away from a path so don’t use

off course of course of course

absolutely nice one I’m but like three

of you said absolutely great absolutely

it means yes it’s like a very strong yes

yeah can you help me with this

absolutely okay let’s go on then to

negative responses negative responses

now please

so first negative response sorry I can’t

sorry I can’t so this is a rejection

expression like so this can be for

request that can you help me with this

sorry I can’t I have to work for example

or do you want some cake sorry I can’t I

have to leave for example you can use

this for both if you have to reject

something all right next one extremely

direct I don’t recommend this because

it’s just too direct and it might seem a

little rude it’s just no no

so like do you want some cake no it’s

quite direct you might hear kids use

this if kids if the kid is in a bad mood

for example but no no is quite direct

yeah what’s that a question to me so no

no it’s quite direct you can use it but

yeah oh yeah okay so a producer is

saying we could use not really like you

could use this for offers to reject an

offer like do you want some cake and not

really you could use that if you like so

that’s one okay another extremely direct

and casual one is nope nope nope nope

this one is used only with like close

friends and family members perhaps nope

nope yeah another good one from our

producer is uh-huh or not so there are

some how did you spell that just

basically any uh-uh-uh-uh any kind of

negative sound you can use that to

reject an offer so these are good for

offers offers okay good let’s finish

with two more negative responses then

yeah no thanks is another one from no.1

okay no thanks alright

I’m running out of time so I’m gonna

finish the last ones that I have so I

wish I could I wish I could this one is

for requests for offers I wish I could I

wish I could meaning I want to do that

thing but it’s not possible it’s not

possible I wish I could

I can’t and finally I have to work so

this is one example of an excuse you can

provide some reason why you cannot do

that thing I have to work I have to work

okay

finally last point if you want to

compromise like you want to do something

with the person but you just don’t have

time right now or there’s some reason

you can’t do that thing instead oh okay

that’s very handy thank you so instead

if you want to compromise try this I

can’t today I can’t today

present tense I’m sorry present tense I

can’t today how about tomorrow instead

how about Sunday instead how about this

weekend instead so one thing that I’ve

noticed when like my students are

practicing making offers or inviting

people or whatever if if the plan is not

possible on that day they quit it’s like

you can compromise so use this

expression to make a compromise so I

can’t today how about tomorrow or I

can’t meet at 5:00 how about 8:00

instead yeah oh good point what is a

compromise so a compromise is working

together to find the solution working

together to solve a problem you’re

changing the situation changing the

conditions in some way so if I say do

you want to watch a movie tonight I

can’t today

how about tomorrow that’s a compromise

you’re changing the conditions of the

situation so this is a great expression

for making plans so if someone offers a

plan you can use this I can’t today how

about the 30th of February that’s not a

day that’s not very nice okay anyway we

have to finish there because I’m late as

always I have talked too much so let’s

finish there great but thank you so much

for sending all of your great example

sentences fantastic and thank you for

your questions too if you missed it oh

if you missed it

I’ll sit over here where should I go

okay so if you missed it all of this is

on a video yeah I’m okay this is on a

video so you can check this on the

channel or you can check this on the

Facebook page yeah I’ve got a I’m almost

falling down in every episode man but

next week we’ll be back again with a new

lesson next week we are going to talk

about how to make travel plans now I

should be over here we’re gonna talk

about how to make travel plans now so

this will be next week May 16th this

will be Wednesday 10:00 p.m. Eastern

Standard Time Eastern Standard Time is

New York City time if you don’t know

that time in your local time google it

you can find it on google please check

it out

next week how to make travel plans very

exciting so we’ll probably actually this

might be good to review checking in at a

hotel so please go download this free

pdf when this lesson finishes excellent

so we’ll finish there thank you so much

for joining us on Facebook on YouTube on

Twitter on Instagram where everywhere

now so we’ll finish there for today um

thanks for sending all your questions if

you have other questions you can send

them in the chat or send them to me on

ask Alicia and I’ll try to take care of

them so we’ll finish there thank you so

much for liking and sharing the video

thank you for sending your questions and

comments and we will see you again next

week have a good day have a good night

I’ll see you again soon bye bye

you