courteous, civil, polite
这组词共同的意思是“有礼貌的”。它们的区别在于：
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。
polite，civil，courteous
这些形容词都含“礼貌的、客气的”之意。
polite普通常用词，指言论举止无论何时均严谨有礼，很有教养。
civil语气弱于polite，着重只达到社交的一般要求，避免粗鲁。
courteous指言谈举止典雅，谦恭有礼，更侧重考虑他人的感情与尊严。
