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Canadian French Requests

Similar to German speakers, in terms of directness, French occupies the mid-point between Australian English and Argentinean Spanish (Blum-Kulka et al., 1989):

Direct:

Déplacer votre voiture. ‘Move your car.’

Indirect:

Judith, est-ce que tu me passerais tes notes S. T. P.? ‘Judith, would you pass me your notes, please?’

Hint:

Excusez moi, est-ce que vous allez vers Ave Lawrence? ‘Excuse me, are you going in the direction of Lawrence Ave.?’

Above passages from Blum-Kulka et al. (1989), p. 136.

 

References

Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (1989). Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies. Norwood, NJ: Alblex Publishing Corporation.

 

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