When asking for something politely which sentence is a better/proper choice?
Could you please help me?
or
Could you help me please?
Answer
On my polite-o-meter, the two sentences score very close: "Could you help me, please?", "Could you please help me?". The former sounds more formal. Use whichever one you want and you'll be more polite than most people.
The following data is a very rough indication that "please-on-the-end" might be more common: 1
1 Google results may not be accurate at all. I will be reviewing this. Another answer suggests a different result.
Sentence structure has an impact on information emphasis:
Sentence length tends to require "please" to be moved to the beginning. Consider the following: "Could you help me find my light-brown work shoes that I just bought, please?" "Could you please help me find my light-brown work shoes that I just bought?" The latter introduces politeness earlier while also focusing the sentence on the important information.
Other answers in this thread provide great analyses on formality and urgency. But length-of-sentence can be an opposing force. While "please" tends to be more formal and polite at the end of sentences, a longer sentence may be more natural sounding with "please" moved closer to the beginning. For more information, see Google Search: sentence information, clarity, and focus.
How to learn all of this?
- There are a lot of great answers in this thread (I suggest you read them too!), but that can be overwhelming! Usage is highly dependent on context. Rather than trying to learn 1000 rules on usage, I suggest that you gain subtle usage skills naturally through observation and experience .
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