Please may you...

[AthenaMinerva]

I just need to vent... Regularly get messages from DC's club that say:

"Please may you bring back consent forms tonight for XX."
"If you have not paid for XX please may you do so this evening."

It's "please can you" FFS!!!

And breathe...

[pigsDOfly]

It sounds like the writer is unsure when it's appropriate to use 'can' or 'may' in a sentence, thinks 'may' sounds more polite and correct so is sticking with that.

It's the same thinking that makes some people use myself/yourself incorrectly, as in "could yourself please call myself".

[TwoRockSalmonAndAHaporthOfChips]

Are you in Wales? A couple of my Welsh friends use this construction and I wonder whether it derives from a Welsh precedent.

[alexdgr8]

i would say please will you...
as that is a request,
whereas please can you...
could be seen as a question.
to which someone being pedantic might reply, i can,
but not actually do it.
bit then i'm being pedantic.

[pigsDOfly]

@alexdgr8

i would say please will you...
as that is a request,
whereas please can you...
could be seen as a question.
to which someone being pedantic might reply, i can,
but not actually do it.
bit then i'm being pedantic.

Good point.

[KnickerlessParsons]

@alexdgr8

i would say please will you...
as that is a request,
whereas please can you...
could be seen as a question.
to which someone being pedantic might reply, i can,
but not actually do it.
bit then i'm being pedantic.

Or simply "please bring your forms tonight".

[Smidge001]

My OH does this and its really annoying! He's not in any way Welsh.

[AthenaMinerva]

@TwoRockSalmonAndAHaporthOfChips

Are you in Wales? A couple of my Welsh friends use this construction and I wonder whether it derives from a Welsh precedent.

No, north Midlands. I always read it as them trying to be extra polite and so (wrongly) using the polite request construction "Please may I have the salt?" while asking someone else to do something.

[AthenaMinerva]

@KnickerlessParsons

Or simply "please bring your forms tonight".

Yes, any of those are valid (in my opinion!). The people running the club are lovely and amazing so there's no way I would say anything but I feel better having had a little outlet here 😀

[imnotthatkindofmum]

This is one of my bugbears. As a teacher I've given up correcting kids as they insist it is the polite way to say it but it doesn't make sense!

[PedantScorner]

@TwoRockSalmonAndAHaporthOfChips

Are you in Wales? A couple of my Welsh friends use this construction and I wonder whether it derives from a Welsh precedent.

It's not from Welsh.

[PedantScorner]

@imnotthatkindofmum

This is one of my bugbears. As a teacher I've given up correcting kids as they insist it is the polite way to say it but it doesn't make sense!

The polite form is "Please could you ...?"
May you... is for a context like 'May you have a wonderful Christmas'