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While teaching my students in a elementary school, I asked them to use the question

Could you repeat (that), please?

However, the next day I received a letter from a mother saying the correct form is

Could you please repeat (that)?

I teach in a Spanish-speaking city (This is in Peru, Latin America).

choster
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Delacruz
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  • There's actually been a bit on this over at the English Learners site. You may find this helpful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/18153/could-you-please-help-me-vs-could-you-help-me-please (Which is not to say you won't get answers here!). – nxx Mar 12 '14 at 00:45
  • You wouldn’t say that. You would say, “Could you say that again, please?” – tchrist Mar 25 '14 at 21:09

2 Answers2

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I'd go with both:

Could you repeat, please?

and:

Could you, please, repeat?

The commas are imho crucial.

jules
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    It's unusual to use 'repeat' (in this sense) without an object (eg 'that'). The word 'please' is a politeness (pragmatic) marker, not an adverb. It is, however, at least as free to move about the sentence as adverbs are. Correct forms are: "Could you repeat that, please?" / "Could you please repeat that?" / "Please could you repeat that?" The parent is not aware of idiomatic English. In fact, modern usage, seeing these as polite requests rather than questions, would often even use full stops in place of the question marks. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 11 '14 at 23:53
  • Yes. Of course. Mea culpa. The "that"'s got to be there. Btw isn't your third option the least common? – jules Mar 12 '14 at 07:52
  • (1) You do see elliptical examples such as 'Please repeat.' (2) The third example probably is the least common, but still quite acceptable ('quite' in its virtually equivalent to 'totally' sense not its 'fairly' sense). I'd say it's the most solicitous version (polite right from the outset); 'please' often has an emphatic / afterthought / almost insincere flavour. (Of course, tone of voice and cadence is even more important than positioning when speaking.) 'Could you please repeat that' is more formal but far less conversational. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 12 '14 at 09:19
  • I really appreciate your help. I used "that" to represent any word or phrase to better complete the question. It's been really helpful to have an answer very soon. – Delacruz Mar 13 '14 at 14:47
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There are four potential constructions, here:

  1. Could you repeat, please?

  2. Could you please repeat?

  3. Could you repeat that, please?

  4. Could you please repeat that?

(3) and (4) are the most obviously correct but I will often hear (2) in informal contexts (including classroom discussions). (1) is much less common but would also be acceptable in informal contexts.

Generally speaking, much of informal speech will drop "that" but it is almost always easier to understand with the "that" included.

Community
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MrHen
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