The article is devoted to the explanation how requests were expressed by non-native speakers of Polish. The instrument used in the study was a discourse-completion test (DCT), developed for researching the speech act realization of second-language learners. The investigations were carried out in Poland and abroad among students from various European countries. In the paper the different request formulae were presented and analyzed. The illocutionary force of requests was modified by three general ways: the imperative, interrogative and indicative mood. Additionally, the second goal of the study was an answer if requests of second-language learners convey politeness value according to the Polish rules of politeness.