Breakdown of Пожалуйста, говорите тише в лифте, там слышно всё.
в
in
пожалуйста
please
там
there
всё
everything
Questions & Answers about Пожалуйста, говорите тише в лифте, там слышно всё.
Why is говорите used here, and what does it mean grammatically?
Говорите is the imperative form of говорить (to speak) in 2nd person plural. It’s used:
- for polite address to one person (you formal), or
- when speaking to more than one person (you plural).
So it functions like Please speak… / Speak… (please).
Could it be говори instead of говорите?
Yes, but it changes who you’re addressing:
- говори тише = informal you (to a friend, child, etc.)
- говорите тише = polite/formal you or you all
In an elevator sign/request, говорите is the natural choice.
What part of speech is тише here, and why not тихий?
Тише is an adverb in the comparative degree meaning more quietly / quieter.
You use an adverb because it modifies the verb говорите (how to speak).
Тихий is an adjective (quiet as a quality of a noun), so it would not fit here.