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Could you get me a glass of water, please? Is this an interrogative sentence or an imperative sentence?

Amrita Enakshi Mukherjee
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    It could be either. It depends on how you want to interpret it. Going strictly by the grammar (because of the could), it would be interrogative. But going by the intended meaning, it could be seen as imperative (a nicely worded order). Are you looking at syntax or semantics? – Jason Bassford Aug 15 '20 at 16:40
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    Syntactically, it is an interrogative sentence: it matches the form. Pragmatically, this is a conventional request; it has a conventional form, includes please, and is intended as an impositive. It could be considered an order if it were delivered in the appropriate manner (which can't be represented in print), but the cover term is "impositive", because the intent is to impose the speaker's will on the addressee. It's not an imperative, because imperative refers only to the form of the utterance, and this has the form of an interrogative. – John Lawler Aug 15 '20 at 16:45
  • Use a period instead of a question mark for a firm request. A question mark corresponds to a desired verbal answer except in rhetorical questions (zero response). – Edwin Ashworth Aug 15 '20 at 17:02
  • Polite requests stated as questions should be ended with a period. –  Aug 15 '20 at 17:23
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    Does this answer your question? Suggestion phrased as a question – Edwin Ashworth Aug 15 '20 at 18:03
  • It's a directive but not an imperative. In terms of grammatical structure, it's an interrogative, but it's not used to ask a question. I'm not asking for an answer, I'm asking for a glass of water. – BillJ Aug 15 '20 at 18:49
  • @Stockfish may I disagree? – Will Crawford Aug 16 '20 at 00:05
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    Who's asking??? – Hot Licks Aug 16 '20 at 01:00
  • @Will Crawford: By all means :) I suppose the CMS supports my viewpoint, but then I could be wrong. Have a faint recollection of having read such a thing. –  Aug 16 '20 at 04:06
  • Syntactically, the sentence seems interrogative, but it being a request should it be an imperative? As it has the modal 'could' then it cannot be an imperative and moreover it ends with a question mark so I was a bit puzzled what type of sentence it is. If this is a sentence given in a question paper and asked to mention it's kind, then what should I call it? – Amrita Enakshi Mukherjee Aug 16 '20 at 06:20
  • @AmritaEnakshiMukherjee You can call it an interrogative directive. See my comment above. – BillJ Aug 16 '20 at 06:30
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    @HotLicks quite! This question's more in the area of culture and interpersonal relationships, really :) – Will Crawford Aug 16 '20 at 08:08

1 Answers1

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As written, it's a request, rather than a command.

This is because it uses the modal verb, could, which is used to form polite or formal requests and invitations¹. It makes the request slightly less direct than can or will.

Whether it's one that is genuinely allowing for a negative response is completely context-dependent. If it's your boss, they probably aren't expecting you to say "no", but in any healthy working environment you should be able to demur - if you have something else you're supposed to be doing - but you may be in trouble if you don't comply. If it's a friend or a partner, one hopes that an occasional "no" is acceptable (though too many negative responses will likely spoil the relationship).

[This answer is biased because the most recent occasions when I've spoken like this, it has been a plea rather than an order. If I'm in a restaurant, I'll be surprised to be told "No" to such a request, but even so, it is a question. I just might not like the answer.]

¹ See British Council - LearnEnglish Teens, and Learn English - Online.

Will Crawford
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  • "Please get me a glass of water" is also a directive, but this time it is an imperative. It's not, of course, an interrogative, though. – BillJ Aug 16 '20 at 06:22
  • Yes, exactly! This sort of phrasing is often an imperative disguised as an interrogative, but this particular example falls (for me, at least) squarely in the "asking nicely" rather than "telling" category :) but as @HotLicks commented, "Who's asking?" – Will Crawford Aug 16 '20 at 08:03