could you possibly - WordReference Forums

(A note: In the first question, if the word "possibly" is stressed, it would sound more like "I really need help and I'm offended that you haven ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. couldyoupossibly Threadstarter MyUserName Startdate Jun26,2009 M MyUserName SeniorMember Portuguese hi, Iwonderifsaying"isitpossibleto...?"inaquestionismoreappropriatethansaying"couldyoupossibly...?". example: "couldyoupossiblysendsomeonetohelpme?" "isitpossibletosendsomeonetohelpme" whichoneismorecommonandnatural,please? thanks.   M MichaelW SeniorMember English(British) Bothwork,inthefirstyouareaskingforhelp,inthesecondyouareaskingwhetherhelpispossible. "couldyoupossibly"isanpoliteidiominUKEnglishbutthe"possibly"doesn'trefertoanyactualquestionofpossibility,youmightjustaswellsay"couldyouplease"orjust"couldyou".   D Dimcl SeniorMember BritishColumbia,Canada CanadianEnglish MyUserNamesaid: Hi, Iwonderifsaying"isitpossibleto...?"inaquestionismoreappropriatethansaying"couldyoupossibly...?". example: "Couldyoupossiblysendsomeonetohelpme?" "Isitpossibletosendsomeonetohelpme?" Whichoneismorecommonandnatural,please? Thanks. Clicktoexpand... "Couldyoupossibly..."tendstohaveamore"polite-sounding"tonetoitandplacesmoreemphasisonthegoodnatureofthepersontowhomyouareaddressingthequestion.Inotherwords,thequestionisaddressedtotheeffortoftheotherpersontosendhelp."Isitpossiblehasamoreneutraltone-youaresimplyaskingifitispossible. Withoutsomecontext,itisimpossibletosaywhichoneismorecommonandnatural.   Esca SeniorMember ATX USA-English Theysoundabitdifferenttomyear. "Couldyoupossiblysendsomeonetohelpme?"=Iwishyoucouldsendsomeonetohelpme.Isitpossibleforyoutodothat? "Isitpossible(orwoulditbepossible)tosendsomeonetohelpme?"=Ineedsomeonetohelpme.Isitpossibleforthemtobesenthere? (Anote:Inthefirstquestion,iftheword"possibly"isstressed,itwouldsoundmorelike"IreallyneedhelpandI'moffendedthatyouhaven'tsentsomeonetohelpmeyet!")   sdgraham SeniorMember Oregon,USA USAEnglish "Possibly"inthiscaseisanexampleofinterjectingsomeformofdoubtasapresumedpoliterequest,suchas"bychance." MyimpressionisthatinAE,wherewetendtobemoredirect,wewouldtendtodropthe"possibly"andjustask"Canyousendsomebodytohelpme"orjust"Pleasesendsomebodytohelpme"dependingupontheurgencyofthesituation.   M MyUserName SeniorMember Portuguese thankyouallverymuch.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top