Present continuous form for a polite question?

Question

Should we use use the present continuous form "would you mind if" to ask a polite question?

The present continuous form of would you mind if would be would you be minding if. If that is what you meant, you can't.

tchrist · Answer 1 · 2012-12-19 05:34:59Z

No, you should not. It is ungrammatical to say:

*Would you mind if I am sleeping here?

The sequence of tenses needs to be more like either this:

Would you mind if I slept here?

or even

Would you mind if I sleep here?

Although some might take exception with one or the other of that pair, both are heard in the wild.

KeyBrd Basher · Answer 2 · 2012-12-19 05:40:39Z

up vote 0 down vote

Your sentence as such is grammatically incorrect. You could have used

Would you mind if I sleep here?

if you are inclined to using a present continuous form.

Though you are correct in using "would you mind" here, I'd suggest you use, "Do you mind" for questions with similar structure.

answered Dec 19 '12 at 5:40

KeyBrd Basher
1,206119

	Thank you Basher – Dhushan Dec 19 '12 at 6:06
	If the answer really helps you, an upvote would surely please me. :) – KeyBrd Basher Dec 19 '12 at 11:59

2 Answers