Asking permission

In this post, we look at language you can use when asking for permission to do something. 

Language for asking permission
Question head	subject	verb phrase with base infinitive
Can Could	I he she they	borrow your pen? use your phone charger? take the day off tomorrow? ask you something? have one of your sandwiches?

Language for asking permission 2
Question head	subject	verb phrase with present simple
Would it be OK if Would it be alright if	I he she they	borrow/s your pen? use/s your phone charger? take/s the day off tomorrow? ask/s you to help me? have/has one of your sandwiches?

Language for asking permission 3
Question head	subject	verb phrase with past subjunctive
Would it be OK if Would it be alright if	I he she they	borrowed your pen? used your phone charger? took the day off tomorrow? asked you to help me? had one of your sandwiches?

A word about politeness

When asking for permission to do something we usually use the word 'please' to make the request sound more polite. It's not grammatically necessary to use 'please' but you may sound rude if you don't use it. 'Please' can be put in different places in the sentence; at the start, end or before the verb: Please can I borrow your pen? Can I please borrow your pen? Can I borrow your pen, please? A more important way of showing politeness is the tone of voice and intonation. Even if you use the word 'please' you can sound rude if your pronunciation is not correct. Generally the longer an expression is the more formal and polite it sounds. However remember that pronunciation is always very important in a spoken request for permission.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/