Politeness

Theory negative face

“Politeness: some universals on language usage”.

Politeness allows people to perform many inter-

personally sensitive actions in a nonthreatening or less
threatening manner.

• positive politeness (for instance,

demonstration of interest, sympathy)
• negative politeness (for example,
expressing pessimism, apologizing).

positive face
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POLITENESS You may use a wide range of grammatical
structures.

You may have an impressive vocabulary.

You may have clear pronunciation that

everybody understands.

But, for some reason, you don’t seem to

get the results you want when you speak in
English.

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 Don’t Impose
Don’t order or command. Give them their own personal
space.

Three rules Give Options

of They have the choice to do what you want or to say

‘I’m sorry, I’d rather not do that.’ If you have a
suggestion, give people the option to accept or

politeness refuse it, and give them the option to think of a

suggestion of their own.

Make The Other Person Feel Good

It just means that most people want to feel positive
and in control of the situation. They want to know
that you respect their ideas and opinions and their
status as an individual.

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 SOME TIPS!
1. Don’t make orders
“Could you help me with this project?”
“Would you mind moving your suitcase?”
3. Show respect for other people’s opinions
“It’s kind of hot in here. Can I open the
window?”
“It’s a bit too late to go out now. Shall we stay
in?”

2. Ask for permission

“Do you mind if I turn on the air
conditioning?”
“Is it OK if I turn off the photocopier?”
4. Make it easy for the other person to say No.
“I was wondering if we could talk about a
pay rise.” (past continuous)
“Did you have time to look at my report?”
(past simple)
“I wanted to ask you a favour.” (past simple)

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 A: Would it be possible to leave my suitcase with you and collect it
later?
B: (wondering)

A: Did you want a double or single room, sir?

B: (would)

A: What kind of gift did you want, madam?

B: (looking)

A: Do you think you could repair this camera?

B: (hoping)

I was wondered if I _____ ask you a question

am/might/said

___ there something I can help you with?

might/could/was