Politeness and formality
How do we speak to suit the person and the situation?
Betekenis
The way we speak can show respect, closeness, or how formal a situation is. Polite and formal are not the same: friendly everyday words can be polite too. Some languages have special forms for addressing people, while others rely mainly on wording and tone. Requests and commands concerns the action we ask for; Politeness and formality concerns how we address the other person.
Zo herken je het
Compare how the wording or tone changes when the speaker addresses a different person or speaks in a different situation.
In de taal die je leert
English uses you for both informal and formal address, rather than separate pronouns for each. Greetings, titles, and phrases such as please and thank you help set the tone. Could or would can make a request less direct, but the wording and tone still matter.
Hi, Ben!
Hi is an informal greeting, often used with people you know.
Good morning, Ms. Brown.
The greeting and title suit a more formal relationship.
Could I ask you a question?
Could makes the question less direct; it does not refer to past time here.
Learners whose language has separate formal address forms may look for an equivalent pronoun or verb ending in English. Learners whose language commonly uses direct requests in polite situations may rely on please alone and still sound abrupt.