Learn English – How to ask someone (politely) to clean up the room using a vacuum cleaner

phrase-requestsentence-construction

Well, the question is crystal clear. How do you ask someone (politely) to clean up the room using a vacuum cleaner?

Best Answer

"Politely" has various levels so I'll try to address several:

Would you mind if I asked you to hoover (vacuum) the room?

This is probably very British. It's very polite. Notice we haven't actually asked for the room to be cleaned, we have asked if it's a problem. If the person you're asking is British, this is the most polite method. You can even experiment with words like "awfully" (Would you mind awfully...?), or by adding other conditionals (...if you have time).

Do you mind hoovering (vacuuming) the room?
OR
Would you be able to clean the room, please?

Are my firm favourites for sounding a) polite and b) not too polite as to sound foolish.

Lastly, I offer a more familiar (though polite) option (assume you have known the person a while but in a respectful/businesslike way):

Is it OK if you vacuum the room, please?
OR
Could you vacuum the room please?

Hoover = British English
Vacuum = American English