Hi,
Which of the following sentence is more natural? Most of my collegues use the first sentence.
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Please kindly send your file to me by Friday.
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Please send your file to me by Friday.
Thanks.
Hi,
Which of the following sentence is more natural? Most of my collegues use the first sentence.
Please kindly send your file to me by Friday.
Please send your file to me by Friday.
Thanks.
âKindlyâ right next to âpleaseâ looks a bit superfluous to me; Iâd pick the second sentence.
This is the correct phrase. Please donât use âkindlyâ instead of âpleaseâ.
Do you think this would work: âWould you be so kind as to send me your file by Friday?â
Yes, this is considered correct and very polite English.
Another one thatâs equally polite is the following: âWould you be kind enough to send me your file by Friday?â
By the way Torsten, how do they pronounce your name in Germany? Is it with uvular ârâ or rolling ârâ and do you speak German with a uvular ârâ. I know this hasnât got anything to do with this subject, but Iâm curious.
Perhaps youâll find this a bit strange, but I have a male cleaning lady, and I always use these sentences, in Dutch ofcourse, because I donât like to âcommandâ someone. He is doing a great job. I wouldnât be able to clean myself. His name is Davy and likes to listen to Rossini, but then so do I, so we often play a cd of Rossiniâs âIl barbieri di Sivigliaâ and âLa gazza Ladraâ. But Davyâs in fact a highly skilled musician and he wants to become a conductor of a famous orchestra. Also, music from Johann Strauss, like âDie Fledermausâ. Hey, itâs seems Iâm getting back into the running. Which reminds me? I have to send Andrea the new songs of Abba.
I guess you can classify as a German uvular ârâ.
Does the following sentence make sense and is it grammatically correct?
Thank you,
Masme
In my opinion it sounds condensending and archaic.
An alternative might be âCould you remind me what this is about?â
Iâm a little hesitant here though because I donât know the context. This is a rather neutral statement, just saying that the subject must have slipped my mind.
Iâve just noticed that the phrase âa bit superfluousâ sounds rather interesting. I mean can something really a bit superfluous? Itâs either superfluous or it isnât. Itâs like saying something is âa bit emptyâ or âa bit fullâ, isnât it?
âPlease send me your file by Friday.â is quite polite, Masme.
We need to be as brief and polite as possible. (Brevity is the soul of wit!)
Calling something superfluous might be considered insulting or overbearing. It trivializes what the person said and can imply that they are stupid, unreasonable, etc. Saying itâs a bit superfluous softens it. Itâs the more polite and diplomatic way of saying it.
The diminutive form of many words can be used in this way, even when the root would not technically have a diminutive form. This is quite common.
In face-to-face communication a simple smile can convey the same meaning. But even then the diminutive is often used.
Thank you for reminding me of Hamlet
Would you also say that this applies to âItâs a bit redundantâ? And wouldnât you agree that there are many other ways to politely express that you donât think something is necessary, such as asking, âDo you really think all this is necessary?â
âIs this necessary?â
âWhy are we doing this?â
âIs this really necessary?.
âReally?â
Of course, tone is important in conveying what you mean, from simple curiosity to skeptically challenging the person to justify the action.
Getting back to the original question, perhaps Iâm not a kindly person, but I donât believe I have ever used the word âkindlyâ. Of course I understand that this may be different in other parts of the world.
Yes it can apply to that.
This can also come across as demeaning. I think a bit superfluous is actually more polite. As Arinker mentioned, the tone is very important. Online this is the reason why people started using emotes. Unfortunately they became way over used so people largely quit using them.
Yes there are other ways to say the same thing, but the use of the diminutive for that purpose is very widespread.