In this mini episode, you will learn different ways to tell someone to stop doing something.
Episode 314 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you different ways to tell someone to stop doing something. Send your questions about English and your suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, everyone. This is Daniela, from Colombia. And you are listening (to) this amazing podcast, Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 314 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you many ways to tell someone to stop doing something. I will teach you some ways that sound very polite and some ways that don’t sound very polite.
I’m going to start with the sentences that sound more polite. These are sentences you could use with strangers or people you don’t know very well, or people in all kinds of situations.
The first one is “Could I ask you not to…” do that? Could I ask you not to do that—whatever the action is that you want someone to stop doing. “Could I ask you not to kick the back of my seat, please?” “Could I ask you not to talk so loud in the library?”
The next one is very similar, and it is “Could you please not…” do that? Could you please not do that?
And the next one is “Would you mind not doing that?” Would you mind not doing that—doing that thing, doing that action. Notice that in this case—“Would you mind not doing something?”—you have to use the -ing form of the verb. “Would you mind not kicking the back of my seat?” “Would you mind not kicking the back of my seat?”
Now we get to the constructions that start to sound a little bit less formal, a little bit less polite.
And the first one of these is “Please don’t…” do that thing. Please don’t do that thing. “Please don’t kick the back of my seat.”
This next one often does sound at least a little bit unfriendly, and it is “Do you mind?” Do you mind? Notice with this construction, you do not even need to include the verb. You don’t need to include the action that you want someone to stop doing. If the context makes it clear, you can just say, “Do you mind?” And this makes it sound like you are saying, “I am very annoyed. I want you to stop doing this thing.”
The last three examples are definitely not to use with strangers unless you don’t mind looking very angry. These constructions are better used with your friends or maybe even with children if you are especially annoyed or frustrated by what they are doing. These three constructions are equally impolite-sounding or equally annoyed-sounding.
The first of them is “Quit it.” Quit it. Q-u-i-t, it. Quit it. That means “Stop doing what you’re doing.”
The next one is “Knock it off.” Knock it off. K-n-o-c-k, it, off. Knock it off. Again, this means “Stop doing what you’re doing. This is annoying. I want you to stop.”
And the last construction is “Cut it out.” Cut it out. That’s c-u-t, it, out. Cut it out. Again, this means “Stop it. I don’t like it. I want you to stop.”
I think it is important to know different ways of expressing yourself in different kinds of social situations. And I think these are all constructions that you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 314 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Daniela recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!