English — Making Polite Requests and Offers (Can, Could, Will, Would, May) — Grammar, Dialogues and Exercises — 3rd Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

Lesson: Making Polite Requests and Offers

Learning Objectives:

• Use modal verbs to make polite requests and offers.
• Distinguish between formal and informal requests.
• Respond appropriately to requests (accepting and refusing).

1. Modal Verbs for Requests

Modal	Use	Example
Can	Informal requests / permission	Can I borrow your pen?
Could	Polite requests (more formal)	Could you help me, please?
Will	Requests / offers	Will you open the window?
Would	Very polite requests	Would you mind closing the door?
May	Formal permission / requests	May I come in?

2. Making Offers

Structure	Example
Can I + verb?	Can I help you with your bags?
Shall I + verb?	Shall I open the window?
Would you like + noun / to + verb?	Would you like some tea? / Would you like to sit down?
Let me + verb	Let me carry that for you.
I will + verb	I will get you a glass of water.

3. Accepting and Refusing Politely

Accepting	Refusing
Yes, please.	No, thank you.
Yes, of course.	I’m sorry, but…
Sure, no problem.	I’d love to, but I can’t.
Certainly.	Maybe another time.
Yes, that would be lovely.	Thank you, but I’m fine.

4. Dialogues

Dialogue 1: At school

Ahmed: Could you help me with this exercise, please?
Sami: Sure, no problem. Let me have a look.
Ahmed: Thank you so much!

Dialogue 2: Offering help

Teacher: Would you like me to explain the lesson again?
Students: Yes, please. That would be great.

Exercises

Exercise 1: Complete the requests with the correct modal verb.

1. ______ you help me carry these books? (polite request)
2. ______ I use your phone? (informal)
3. ______ you like a cup of coffee? (offer)
4. ______ I ask a question? (formal)

Exercise 2: Match the request with the correct response.

1. Can I open the window?
2. Would you like some juice?
3. Could you repeat that, please?
4. May I go to the toilet?

a) Yes, of course. b) No, thank you. c) Yes, certainly. d) Go ahead.

Summary

Use can for informal requests, could and would for polite requests, and may for formal ones. For offers, use shall I, would you like, or let me. Always use polite responses to show good manners!

📍 Similar Lessons

• Personal Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives — 1st Year Middle School
• Simple Present Tense — 2nd Year Middle School
• Present Continuous Tense — 2nd Year Middle School