Thread: Particle "же"

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

That's surprising to me! I thought that if Что is rude here, then что же must be more rude.

What if you began the sentence with почему?

Почему (же) вы вовремя не писали, на приёме?

Is there a difference in politeness here, if you use же, or don't use it?

же form is still more polite
When you add же to this specific question that makes it "an asking"
if you remove же this sentence becomes "a demand" to answer