Future continuous being considered more polite than other future tenses when asking about somone's plans

Hi, Le 12345,

@le12345 posted:

I have read on an English site as below:
The future continuous can be used to ask questions in a polite and indirect manner when we want to know what someone's plans are.
Example: Excuse me. Will you be using this chair? ( = If you're not using it, may I take it?)

(1) Will you be using this chair?
(2) Will you use this chair?
(3) Are you going to use this chair?

As the explanation from that site, then (1) is considered more polite than (2) and (3).
Could you give me the reason the future continuous sound more polite than other future tenses when asking about someone's plan?

That is because the future progressive sounds softer. See Rachel's reply here:

https://thegrammarexchange.inf...essive-for-softening

@le12345 posted:

Similarly, a cashier would say:

(1) How will you be paying?  In cash or by credit card?
(2) How are you paying? In cash or by credit card?
(3) How are you going to pay? In cash or by credit card?
(4) How will you pay? In cash or by credit card?

In this situation, Is (1) considered the most polite way to use? and why?

IMHO, what is natural to use here is "How would you like to pay (for it)?". It means that the customer has not decided yet and I am giving him/her the chance to choose, not imposing a certain choice. The progressive forms don't sound natural in this situation. Even when I try to give an answer using them, they sound unnatural, so I wouldn't go with 1 or 2. I think 4 sounds better and more natural than 3.

Hi, Ahmed,

@ahmed_btm posted:

That is because the future progressive sounds softer. See Rachel's reply here:

https://thegrammarexchange.inf...essive-for-softening

Congratulations on finding such a good related thread. It seems to me that the future progressive is similar to stating a plan rather than the action itself, which is what makes it sound softer and more polite. Therefore,  "Will you be using this chair?" would be similar to "Are you planning on using this chair?"

@ahmed_btm posted:

IMHO, what is natural to use here is "How would you like to pay (for it)?". It means that the customer has not decided yet and I am giving him/her the chance to choose, not imposing a certain choice. The progressive forms don't sound natural in this situation. Even when I try to give an answer using them, they sound unnatural, so I wouldn't go with 1 or 2. I think 4 sounds better and more natural than 3.

I agree with you on "How would you like to pay" being a polite way of asking. In my view, both (3) and (4) would be fine.

I think the future progressive does not work with "paying" because it is not a durative but an immediate action. In the case of "using (this chair)," as well as with the verbs in the related thread, the action is expected to take some time or to involve a process.

Note: Thank you for asking about me and for your nice comments here.

Thank you so much Gustavo, Co-Moderator  and ahmed_btm

As we can see, there are 4 ways of talking about the future. Sometimes I don't know to choose the form to use and the differences between them. Here are some of my opinions, please help me check if it is correct or not:

(1) I am visiting Pairs next month.

=> If I already have fixed arrangements ( already booked tickets, hotels...).

I have a question here: if the listener hears this sentence, do they think that the speaker already has fixed arrangements?

(2) I am going to visit Paris next month.

=> If I already decided to visit Paris next month but I haven't had any arrangements, I will choose this form. I think that this sentence only talks about a decision without a fixed schedule.

I have a question here: if the listener hears this sentence, do they think that the speaker hasn't had  any fixed arrangements (booking tickets, hotels...)?

(3) I will be visiting Paris next month.

=> This sentence has the same meaning as (2) but with the emphasis on the duration of the visit.

(4) I will visit Paris next month.

=>I only use this when I make decision at the time of speaking.