A student asked me about the phrase "I was hoping that you could help me".
Why do we use the past tense (was hoping) if we're asking for help now?
Here's the answer that I gave the student:
I know it seems strange, but this is a common way to ask for something in English. For example:
- I was hoping that you could help me = I hope you can help me.
- I was hoping to get your advice = Can you give me your advice?
Perhaps you could think about it like this: the "hoping" happened in my head before I decided to ask for the help.
Or you could just see this as a fixed phrase, and a typically English way to ask politely and indirectly!
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