68 Making requests
In this chapter you will learn how to request others to do something and to say things
like ‘Could you help me, please?’, ‘Would you mind closing the window?’ Spanish, like
English, expresses these ideas in a number of ways, some more colloquial than others.68.1 Common expressions of request
68.1.1 Por favor+ present
This construction with the present, perhaps the most common one when requesting
others to do something, is an alternative to the one with the imperative in 68.1.2
below, but, unlike the imperative, it leaves the person addressed with no doubt that
what he has heard is a request and not a command. This is closer in meaning to the
English expression ‘Will you (do this)?’ than the one below, and it is especially
common in formal address.Por favor, ¿me pasa la sal?
Will you pass the salt please?Por favor, ¿le dice a mi marido que se ponga al teléfono?
Will you tell my husband to come to the telephone please?Por favor, ¿subes tú el equipaje?
Will you bring up the luggage please?68.1.2 (Por favor)+ imperative
This is the most peremptory way of requesting others to do something, and it is
common in the spoken language in informal contexts. It is also often heard in
exchanges between strangers in situations where a service is being requested, in a shop
or restaurant for example, or in exchanges between someone in authority and a
subordinate. The intonation is important here, a rising intonation being more
appropriate for a polite request – especially in formal address – than a falling
intonation, which can make this sound like an order or command. In either case,
the word por favor, placed at the beginning or at the end of the imperative form
should establish that this is a request. 16.1.1.6 (p. 62); 17.13 (p. 81)
Por favor cierra la puerta.
Please close the door.