There have been several times in my work where I had to ask permission or for a favor that was somewhat difficult. And so I wanted to ask very nicely, very politely.
One time I went into my boss's office and asked if I could have some vacation time near one of the big holidays. So I went to her and I said: Excuse me, Ms. Chang, may I ask you a question? And she said: Sure, go ahead. Well, I said: I was wondering if it would be okay for me to take a few days off next week. She then asked me: Could you tell me why you need to take a day off so near a holiday? I said: Well, I was hoping that I could combine my vacation with the holiday to have more time. She said: I'm sorry, but I can't give you any vacation time next week.
Another time I went into my manager's office to ask him for a raise. I wanted more money. Now, I was very nervous, but I thought if I asked politely enough, he might just say yes. So I went to him and I said: Excuse me, Mr. Hilldigger, I wonder if I could ask you a question. Of course, he said. Well, I said: I was interested in what the company's policy was on pay raises. Would you mind telling me how often people get a raise in this division? He looked at me and said: Not very often. Well, even though I asked politely, I did not get a raise.
Another time I was working in a small office here in Santa Monica, California, and there was a girl there that I really liked. Her name was Julie. Anyway, I finally got up the nerve to ask her out to go on a date with me, so I said: Uh, hey, Julie. Could you tell me what you're doing this weekend? She said: Oh, nothing much. Then I said: Well, I was wondering whether you wanted to go to the movies. She said: Hey, that's a great idea. I'm going to call my friend Sam and ask him. Well... I wasn't very successful in asking her out for a date. I forgot to say that I wanted her to go to the movies with me.
Vocabulary Discussion Now let's talk about some of the difficult vocabulary in that last segment. We heard several ways of asking for things politely in a business or formal setting as well as in an informal setting.
When I was talking about asking for vacation, I came up to my boss and I said: May I ask you a question? The expression may I means you're asking for permission to do something. It's a polite way of asking.
Then I said: I was wondering if it would be okay for me... The expression I was wondering if is also an indirect way of politely bringing up a topic, often a somewhat sensitive topic.
My boss replied in that first segment: Could you tell me why you need a day off? Could you tell me again is a polite way of asking for information. For example:
All of these are polite expressions. In talking about asking my boss for a raise, I used some of those same expressions.
I said: Excuse me, Mr. Hilldigger. I wonder if I could ask you a question. This is another way of asking for permission:
All of these are similar in asking politely for permission.
I also said in that segment: I was interested in what the company's policy was on pay raises. To say I was interested in is again an indirect way of trying to find out. It's the same as I was wondering if, and so forth.
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