0

I'm trying to learn the sentence structure and I had a few thoughts about the possible structural continuations of the sentence. I was wondering if you could introduce any new possible continuations to the sentence to me.

"If it's no trouble, I'd like (you) to stay with him this afternoon"

"If it's no trouble, I want/ask/wish (you) to stay with him this afternoon"

"If it's no trouble, I'd appreciate you staying with him this afternoon"

"If it's no trouble, I'd appreciate your help/assistance/helping hand with this"

(I'm always looking to improve on my English; so, I'd greatly appreciate it if you would point out any grammatical mistakes I've made in describing my question)

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

"If it's no trouble" is a precondition to what comes next, therefore it only really works with a request, not an order. It doesn't make logical sense to tell someone they must do something - but only if it is no trouble to them.

Of your examples, the only one I would question is "I want you to..." ("ask" and "wish" don't sound quite right in this context). This is because it sounds like a demand. The other examples are perfectly idiomatic and are polite requests.

Improve this answer
0

"If it is no trouble (for you)" is a polite prerequest that can be followed by a "would", a "could", also a "might/may I ask you to" and a "please".

  • If it's no trouble for you, please close the window.
  • If it's no trouble for you, would be so kind as to give me a glass of water.
  • If it's no trouble for you, could you make me tea.
  • If it's no trouble for you, may I ask you to turn the volume down a little.

At the end of each sentence you can add "please" to be even more polite.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .