I heard using 'could' is for politeness. When I request something, should I say "Can you please" or "Could you please"? Does the latter sound over-polite and pretentious?
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If taken literally, "Can you" is equivalent to asking the person if they're capable of doing something.
"Could you", on the other hand, implies that the action can be completed under some circumstances by the person.
The usage of can you is idiomatic, and hence, is more popular used phrase of the two. Using either of them doesn't make them sound "over-polite". It's just that using could you is unusual with the modern day languages.
And example referring to difference between can you and could you.
I might first ask can you please bring me X? to find if he is capable to bring it. If the reply is a negation, I'll add could you bring me X if Y?; where Y is some kind of helping factor.
hjpotter92
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I disagree. I'd say they are for the most part equivalent. "Can you walk with me to my car" or, "Could you walk with me to my car" - equivalent. To make the distinction you are attributing to "Could", I'd use the word "Would", or perhaps/sometimes "Will". I was going to say that generally, the more difficult or involved or complicated a task is, the more skill or physical strength is required for a task, the more "Can" and "Could" might diverge. But then I thought of "Can/Could you climb Mount Everest" - equivalent. – Kevin Fegan May 07 '19 at 05:20