скажите vs подскажите

Question

As I understand it, using the 2nd person ending already makes скажите polite. Is the form подскажите both more polite AND formal? Or do they say the same thing, in the same register, with a different choice of words?

I'm native speaker. For me подскажите indeed sounds a bit more polite and formal. — kotlomoy, Nov 22 '14 at 15:21
I'm a native speaker as well, and подскажите sounds LESS formal to me. — MigMit, Nov 22 '14 at 17:35

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 22 '14 at 13:16

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Those are two different verbs, sometimes they can be used interchangeably, but in most cases they cannot.

сказать is "say, tell"

подсказать is "prompt, suggest"

The usage of the two verbs intersects when you ask someone to tell you some information, such as phone numbers, the way to a place, people's names, etc. In such case either verb can be used, usually with пожалуйста since you're asking for a favor. And, at least as for me, they are equally polite.

Скажите/Подскажите, как пройти в библиотеку?

Will you tell me the way to the library?

In the rest of situations, the two verbs are as interchangeable as their English counterparts I listed above.

answered Nov 22 '14 at 13:16

Yellow Sky

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Thank you! Actually I'm familiar with the meaning of the verbs, my question was about the level of politeness or formality between one and the other as imperatives when asking for information. I suspect that one is direct and the other somewhat indirect and thus more formal. For example, in English we can ask the time two ways: What time is it? and I wonder if you could tell me the time. The latter is used with complete strangers on the street or anywhere you might risk interrupting their day as a complete stranger. It is somewhat indirect and thus slightly apologetic/formal to the ear. – CocoPop Nov 22 '14 at 13:21
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To my ear "подскажите" in this use is mildly informal. I.e. if we undestand formal as "official; likely to be used in an official e-mail or when talking at a formal meeting" then "скажите" is the best neutral variant. However, "подскажите", "не можете подсказать" is a bit more indirect and polite in coversation (eg. asking directions in the street). You are not even asking people to TELL you something but merely give you a hint. Like, your request is really that small and unimportant ^_^ – Shady_arc Nov 22 '14 at 17:48
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I think that is central to politeness in many, many languages" — make your request indirect and insignificant. – Shady_arc Nov 22 '14 at 17:49
@Shady_arc: I agree and that answers my question. By formal, I mean the language you would use with elderly people or strangers on the street. Thanks! – CocoPop Nov 23 '14 at 01:12
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@CocoPop If you meant using it to people on the street — it is OK and quite polite. "Подскажите" is only "informal" as in "not official" (eg. official documents). – Shady_arc Nov 23 '14 at 02:40

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 24 '14 at 18:50

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Over the last 30-40 years подскажите has become widespread and almost totally replaced скажите in requests for help. Before that подсказать was used to describe a rather limited number of situations where verbal help was requested or offered:

To quietly whisper a hint in a class.
To remind one of something one used to (or is supposed to) know but forgets, to refresh one's memory.

When asking for help, saying Скажите, пожалуйста or Не скажете (ли)? sounds to my old-fashioned ear much more polite, educated and well-mannered than Подскажите, пожалуйста or Не подскажете? which bear a vague but undoubted colloquial shade.

answered Nov 24 '14 at 18:50

Avi Gordon

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How exactly does не скажете ли... translate? Or is it it one of those common Russian double negatives? – Matt Fletcher Nov 25 '14 at 14:35
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Literally it translates "would you not tell?". Adequate translations I can suggest are: "would you tell me?", "I don't suppose you could tell me..." etc. I am not sure about a double negative in this particular case but the "не" here must look surplus to a non-native speaker. Somehow the polite way of asking if the other party CAN do something for you is asking whether they can NOT do it: "У вас нет карандаша?"; "Вы не можете мне позвонить завтра утром?" etc. Don't ask. :) I guess the closest English analogy is "You don't happen to have (to know, etc.) XYZ, do you?" – Avi Gordon Nov 25 '14 at 18:25
I see- that concept does exist in English, so it makes sense. I guess something like скажи мне is direct and argumentative (tell me why you did that!) but не скажете is more conversational and polite (could you let me know where xyz is). Is that correct? Thanks for the info! :) – Matt Fletcher Nov 25 '14 at 18:58
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You are exactly correct. I guess direct imperatives exclude politeness, hence subjunctives or negations. :) – Avi Gordon Nov 25 '14 at 19:11

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 25 '14 at 01:22

I would tend to agree with Avi Gordon's answer. Originally подскажите is not supposed to ask, "how can I get there?" for example. But some people, especially women, tend to use this word in various situations. For me it sounds a little bit gay, if I hear "не подскажете, сколько сейчас время?" from a man. However, I hear it from a woman quite often. So I personally would never say like that and would only use this word where it is adequate, and that means, only in rare specific situation, for example: I must tell a poem which I have learned by heart in a class and someone whispers me hints. Then the teacher says: "не надо подсказывать!". Probably I would accept this word in other grammatical construction, like "подскажите хороший ресторан" which is a worse (kind of travestied) variant of "посоветуйте хороший ресторан" and it's used (not by me) rather in a situation where someone must choose from some options and can't make his mind, or just forgot something (which day is it for example) and need a quick hint.

скажите vs подскажите

3 Answers3