If it's not too much trouble
Formal Polite
What it really means
A politeness formula added to requests. The speaker does want the thing, often quite a lot, but is giving you a polite way to refuse. Refusing is allowed but usually unexpected.
Chinese explanation
加在请求后的客套公式。说话人是真心想要（往往还挺想要的），只是给你留一个礼貌拒绝的出口。你可以拒绝，但对方一般没料到会被拒。
Example conversation
A: Could you print these for me, if it's not too much trouble?
B: No trouble at all — give me two minutes.
A：如果不太麻烦的话，能帮我把这些打印出来吗？
B：一点也不麻烦——给我两分钟。
What you could say back
Related phrases
All Politeness Decoder
Reviewed by the UK Decoded editorial team
· Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake