Usage: Polite or Impolite? Past VS Present -- Part 1

DISTANCING

Sorry, I haven't been keeping my blog updated as promised. This is due to my busy schedule (that the school is making full use of my time), as well as the time needed to do the research in this topic.

Again, some of you have already heard me mentioning this topic in class, but I would like to go a little deeper this time, so I will break this topic into a few entries, so that I can answer as many doubts as possible.

First, let me state that, in general, past tenses are more polite than present tense, as many of you might have already known, which further implies that past tenses are not only used for telling actions happened in the past.

Past tenses play a very important part in Distancing.

The main reason is that past tenses give people a 'distance' from 'now', thus the listener will feel less 'pushed' by the speaker because it sounds less direct.

eg. At a high-end brand shop, a salesperson might say...

1. "How many handbags did you want to buy? (more polite)" to a customer who speaks Mandarin
2. "How many handbags do you want to buy? (less polite)" to a customer who speaks Cantonese

eg. At a jewelery shop, a salesperson might say...

1. "How much did you intend to spend? (more polite)" to a customer who wears gold all over the body
2. "How much do you intend to spend? (less polite)" to a customer who wears T-shirt and flip-flops.

eg. When a boy sees a girl he likes ...

1. I wondered if you were free this evening.

When a girl sees the boy she doesn't like...

1. I wonder if you have ever looked at yourself in the mirror.

So much for today, think over and digest a bit! See you in a few days! (My time for bed)

Picture resources:

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rma/lowres/rman202l.jpg

Resources:

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan