To politely ask "who is this?", use phrases like "May I ask who's calling/speaking?," "Could I get your name, please?," or if it's a text/unknown contact, try, "Sorry, your name isn't coming up; could you tell me who this is?". Starting with "May I..." or "Could I..." softens the question, making it sound less blunt and more respectful, while adding "please" is always helpful.
“May I know who this is?” is a much politer and formal way to ask “who is this?” so it's best to say “may I know who this is?” instead of “can I know who this is?”
In formal letters or emails, direct questions are rarely used; you should use indirect questions.
Icebreaker questions to ask when meeting new people
If you're asking someone “do you identify as a man or a woman” so that you can know how to refer to them (i.e. their pronouns) is better to ask, “what are your pronouns?” That's the information you actually want to know (and often need to know) — so ask that instead.
We use could you … and would you … as polite ways of telling or asking someone to do something:
The email 60/40 rule is a design guideline recommending emails should contain roughly 60% text and 40% images, balancing visual appeal with deliverability to avoid spam filters and ensure messages are readable even if images are blocked. This balance makes emails more engaging, improves accessibility (with alt text), and helps content load faster, ensuring the core message gets through when images don't display by default.
The "+1 email trick," also known as plus addressing, lets you create infinite email variations for a single Gmail account by adding +anything after your username (e.g., [email protected]), with all emails still arriving in your main inbox. This is great for filtering spam, identifying data sellers (if [email protected] gets spam, you know Facebook shared your info), and organizing subscriptions without needing new accounts.
Synonyms of name
Proper Names
As far as politeness goes, the following examples, along with what JeremyC has already suggested, would also be some of the safest ways to ask people for their names when talking with them over the phone: Could you please tell me who I'm speaking with? May I ask who's calling? Would you mind telling who's talking?
Start with a polite greeting
Dry texting basically refers to when texting suddenly gets boring, or “dries up” in an otherwise exciting and bouncy conversation where both parties are putting in equal effort. Once one party's answers start to fall into “K” and simple thumbs-up reactions to things, it can be said that the conversation is turning dry.
For effective communication, remember the 5 C's of communication: clear, cohesive, complete, concise, and concrete. Be Clear about your message, be Cohesive by staying on-topic, Complete your idea with supporting content, be Concise by eliminating unnecessary words, be Concrete by using precise words.
Use the appropriate level of formality
For instance, begin with “Dear _____”, use “please” and “thank you” where necessary, and always end your email with the appropriate phrase, “Kind regards”, “Thank you”, “Sincerely” and so on.
Ideally, each email will take 30 seconds to write—then, even if you write 100 emails a day, it's still only an hour of your day, but five minutes is the max. I call this rule the five-minute rule, and it's how I do work email.
10 Expressions to Help You Sound More Polite in English...
Follow these steps to write your letter:
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If you forget someone's name, and if you can't ask them directly, here is a trick that you can use. Don't ask - What's your name? Ask one of the following instead - Hey, what's your full name on LinkedIn? - How do your friends call you in short? - What's your Instagram ID? This never fails.
Here are five commonly used and highly effective survey questions:
It's usually considered acceptable to ask a mutual acquaintance, especially if you know them better than you know the person in question. For instance, if someone introduced you to the person, you can ask them what the person's gender identity is.