Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Negative declaratives with couldn’t and wouldn’t

416b

You couldn’t

and you wouldn’t occur in polite requests, often followed by an

affirmative tag. These forms often suggest a request that is non-routine in the context:

A: Erm,

you couldn’t find a copy of ‘Hamlet’, could you, Ann

?

B: Mm?

A: Oh sorry. Oh there’s one, look. I can see it.

(compare: ‘Could you find a copy …’, which would probably be heard as a

more routine request)

[speakers are trying to calculate bank interest on a sum of money]

A: It doesn’t tell you how you calculate it. 

You wouldn’t ring Roland and ask

? 

B: Yeah. 

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Speech acts | 697

---

Declaratives with might

416c

The declarative use of might in requests occurs in formal styles, but is rare in

everyday conversation:

Tim decided to keep up the pressure. ‘

You might tell me what this son of yours

is like

. I mean, does he look like a Waites? Or does he take after his mother?’