What are the differences? Here are some suggestions (adapted from Paul Emmerson’s Email English)
[col 10 first] [table format=1]| Language function | Direct | Indirect |
| Requests | Can you …? | Could you …? |
| Please could you … | I was wondering if you could … | |
| Could you possibly …? | ||
| Asking for permission | Can I …? | Is it all right if I …? |
| Could I …? | I wonder if I could …? | |
| Offering help | Can I …? | Would you like me to …? |
| Shall I …? | Do you need any help with …? | |
| Making a suggestion | What about … (+ -ing)? | Why don’t we …? |
| Shall we …? | Perhaps we should …? | |
| Softening comments | There is a problem. | I’m afraid there is a small problem. |
| It seems there is a slight problem. | ||
| That will be very expensive. | That might be quite expensive. | |
| Won’t that be a bit expensive? | ||
| That won’t be cheap, will it? | ||
| We can’t do that. | I’m not sure we can do that. | |
| That gives us very little time. | Actually, that doesn’t give us much time. | |
| It will be better to ask [person’s name]. | Wouldn’t it be better to ask [person’s name]? | |
| I disagree. | I can see what you’re saying, but … | |
| Don’t you think that …? | ||
| To be honest, I think it might be better to … | ||
| I think there may be an issue here. |
