Being more polite
(Part Two)

Working in the hospitality industry, politeness is everything.

How can you be more polite in English?

Let’s look at some more examples of using indirect questions to be more polite.

What time will you check out? → Could you tell me what time you will check out, sir?

Notice how the word order in the second question disappears.  …will you… → …you will…

How about this example?

Where do you live, Mr Martin? → Could you tell me where you live, please Mr Martin?

If the auxiliary verb is DO (do, does, did) then it disappears in a polite question.

Now try to make these questions (1-4) more polite (answers in the next blog).

1. What time do you want room service?
2. When do you need a wakeup call?
3. Why did you choose our hotel?
4. How much do you want to pay?

Grammar Goat Key Words: 

Indirect questions, an auxiliary verb