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

Would you like to 

416d

Would you like to

is also used to request someone to do something. It is less

forceful than will you or would you:

[adult carer to child]

A: Have you finished? What did you have in there? 

B: Juice. 

A: Juice. Not fizzy juice. 

B: No. 

A: All right darling just leave it there. You’re not allowed to leave anything on the

table either. There. 

Would you like to go and play with your toys now?

Right,

you can eat those bits and no more. And then you go and play with your toys.

Want

416e

Want

in the interrogative occurs occasionally in polite directives or requests. It is

frequently followed by just, which softens the directive:

[speakers are assembling a piece of flat-pack furniture]

A: 

Do you want to just bang gently on this side here

. 

B: There? 

A: Yeah. [B hammers lightly on the furniture] That’s it.