1.polite的基本意思是“有礼貌的,客气的”,指举止谈吐彬彬有礼。也可作“有教养的,文雅的”解,多指一个人有良好的品行。
2.polite在句中可用作定语或表语。用作表语时其后可接介词短语或动词不定式,该不定式与polite以及句子的主语均存在逻辑上的主谓关系。

用作定语
▲～+n.
She is a polite girl.她是一个文雅的姑娘。
A polite young lady came round checking off the guests one by one.一位有礼貌的年轻女士走过来把已到的客人在名单上一一勾掉。
At the exits polite assistants will take the goods and add up the cost.在出口处,客气的服务员把你的商品接过去,帮你结账。
I like to deal with a polite clerk.我喜欢找有礼貌的店员买东西。
用作表语
▲S+be+～
She grew to know to be polite.她慢慢地懂得讲礼貌了。
Even though you dislike us, still and all you should be polite.尽管你不喜欢我们,但你仍然应该有礼貌。
He was quite polite, of course, but somehow I didn't like his manner.当然,他的确还是彬彬有礼的,但我就是有些不喜欢他的举止。
You are too polite.你太客气了。
John did not even bother to be polite.约翰甚至连礼貌也不讲了。
▲S+be+～+prep.-phrase
He's always so polite to people.他对人总是那么彬彬有礼。
Bob was polite even to his opponents.鲍勃甚至对他的对手也很客气。
▲It is/was+～+(of sb) to-v
It is not polite to interrupt a speaker.打断人的说话是不礼貌的。
It wasn't very polite of you to serve yourself without asking.你也不问一声就自己吃起来是不礼貌的。
▲It is/was+～+that-clause
It is polite that she accepts his invitation.她接受他的邀请,这显得她很有礼貌。

polite, civil, courteous
这组词的共同意思是“有礼貌的”。其区别在于：
1.polite指教养良好而举止谈吐彬彬有礼。
2.civil指仅仅满足社会交往的一般要求,有时仅指不粗野。例如:
Be civil in your speech.讲话要客气。
He was very civil to us when we went to see him.我们去见他的时候,他待我们非常客气。
3.courteous则指考虑更为周到,举止更为高雅。例如:
She was pleased at the courteous way in which he addressed her.他跟她讲话时的那种谦恭的样子令她十分愉快。
It was courteous of him to give his seat to my mother.他把座位让给我母亲真有礼貌。

1.这次你要对他更礼貌些。
［误］  Try to be more polite with him this time.
［正］  Try to be more polite to him this time.
你撞开了门冲进房间是不礼貌的。
［误］  It wasn't polite for you to hammer in the door and then charged into the room.
［正］  It wasn't polite of you to hammer in the door and then charged into the room.
［析］  “对…有礼貌”英文是be polite to sb,不能用 with来代替to。在It is/was polite of sb to-v结构中该动词不定式与polite以及句子的主语均存在逻辑上的主谓关系。
2.不要客气,请吃糕点。
［误］  Don't be polite and eat the cakes yourself.
［正］  Make yourself at home and help yourself to the cakes.
［析］  polite指“客气”是指人的素质,而在家待客人时说“不要客气”意思是“不要拘束”,英语中通常应该说Make yourself at home,不能说Don't be polite。表示“自己吃…”,也应该说成help oneself to,其中to是介词。

［同义词］   civil, civilized, cordial, courteous, cultured, gentle
［反义词］   impolite, uncultivated
［词源］  ＜拉丁语politus(磨光了的)