Would/could

Question

Sir,

Could you do me a favour?

How do I interpret this sentence?
It means "It is possible for you to do favour me." or any thing else.
Please help me.

Would you do me a favour?

What does it mean?

It means "are you willing to do favour me".

Is it ok?

Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

You are working here with indirect speech acts. In these cases the literal meaning is not the same as what we might call the social meaning.

"Could you do me a favour?" literally asks something like "Do you have the physical ability to do me a favour?"
Its meaning in the real world of social interactions is quite different. By asking a person if he has the ability to do something, specifically, by asking this with the formula "Could you?" or "Can you?", we are actually telling him that we already know that the answer is "Yes", and we are indirectly commanding him to do something by (needlessly) questioning his ability to do it. The hearer recognizes the formula as a signal that the words are not to be taken literally.

"Would you do me a favour?" literally asks something like "Are you willing to do me a favour?" (as you have correctly said). In this case, the question is also an indirect command, but here we don't already know what the answer is. Here again, however, the formula suggests that it is at least probable that the answer is "Yes", and here again the signal to the hearer is that this is not a question to be taken literally and that he, the hearer, is being indirectly commanded.

Note that it is the use of a linguistic formula that signals the social meaning. Using an equivalent paraphrase does not trigger the same recognition on the part of the hearer. For example, if I say "Are you able to climb this ladder and change that light bulb way up there?", I may get the answer, "No, I don't think so" or "Yes, I'm strong enough and limber enough to do that, and I have no fear of heights." If I say "Can you" or "Could you" + "climb this ladder and ...", I am more likely to elicit the desired response, namely that the hearer will, possibly without a word, follow my indirect command and begin to climb the ladder, fresh bulb in hand.

Understanding this sort of phenomenon is understanding that language is not always used simply to state facts, but also to get things done in the world!

Would/could

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