Learn how to politely decline an invitation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Politely Declining an Invitation in English. Becky here. |
| John: Hi, I'm John. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to politely decline an invitation. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| John: It's between Linda and John Sullivan. |
| Becky: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Do you have time tonight? We're having a little party for Mr. Handerson. |
| John Sullivan: I'm really sorry, but I have another commitment tonight. |
| Linda: I see, don't worry, maybe some other time |
| John Sullivan: I won't miss it next time. Have a nice evening. |
| Linda: We will, thank you. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Linda: Do you have time tonight? We're having a little party for Mr. Handerson. |
| John Sullivan: I'm really sorry, but I have another commitment tonight. |
| Linda: I see, don't worry, maybe some other time |
| John Sullivan: I won't miss it next time. Have a nice evening. |
| Linda: We will, thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: We’ve spoken about social invites, and formal company parties, but are there any other type of activities that co-workers might have to do? |
| John: You mean other than work? |
| Becky: Of course! We know they have to work. |
| John: One thing that is becoming increasingly popular in American companies is team-building exercises. |
| Becky: What is a team-building exercise? |
| John: It’s an activity that employees of a company do together, usually away from the office. |
| Becky: Its purpose is to build the working relationships between co-workers. |
| John: I’m not sure that always works though! |
| Becky: What type of activities do employees do? |
| John: It can be a physically active thing, such as hiking or treasure hunts. |
| Becky: Are there less demanding ones? |
| John: Yeah, some companies might get people doing building activities or tabletop games. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: time [natural native speed] |
| Becky: time as measured in hours and minutes |
| John: time [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: time [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: party [natural native speed] |
| Becky: a social get together, often to celebrate something |
| John: party [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: party [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next up is... |
| John: another [natural native speed] |
| Becky: one in addition |
| John: another [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: another [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, there’s... |
| John: commitment [natural native speed] |
| Becky: something you agreed to do |
| John: commitment [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: commitment [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: to worry [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to feel concerned about something |
| John: to worry [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to worry [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly... |
| John: to see [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be aware of |
| John: to see [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to see [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: commitment |
| Becky: ...meaning "something you agreed to do." |
| Becky: This is a noun. |
| John: It means to have an already existing obligation or plan. |
| Becky: It’s a slightly formal expression. |
| John: You often hear “commitment” paired with “prior” to make the phrase “prior commitment.” |
| Becky: You use this to say that you have an already existing plan for that time. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “If you don't have any prior commitments, please join us on Sunday.” |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: some other time |
| Becky: ...meaning "at a later time." |
| Becky: So this phrase is made up of three words. |
| John: The first is the determiner “some,” which means an unspecified amount. |
| Becky: The next word is “other,” which is an adjective that means an object that isn’t already being spoken about. |
| John: So we use this to talk about a time that isn’t now. |
| Becky: We can’t do something now, but could at a different time. |
| John: You often use this when you decline invitations. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “I'm busy on Sunday, so maybe some other time.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to politely decline an invitation. In the last lesson, we learned about making and accepting invitations. |
| John: We said that we’d learn how to decline invitations in a later lesson... |
| Becky: ...so let’s learn about that now! The main thing to remember is to always be polite. |
| John: Yes, be thankful for the invite, and show regret that you can’t go. |
| Becky: How do we politely decline? |
| John: As always, you should say “thank you.” |
| Becky: You really can’t say “thank you” enough sometimes! |
| John: And then follow that up by declining. “Thank you for the kind invite, but I can’t attend.” |
| Becky: “Thanks for the invite, but I can’t make it.” |
| John: That example from Becky is kind of informal, but would still be okay to use in most circumstances. |
| Becky: Although these sentences are polite, it might be seen as a little rude if you don’t give a reason why you are declining the invitation. |
| John: The reason doesn’t have to be specific, but you should say something. |
| Becky: The most common reason is being busy. |
| John: Right, you can say “I already have plans,” or “I’m already doing something that day.” |
| Becky: It might be that your reason for declining is that you don’t want to go, but whatever you do, don’t say that! |
| John: No! Just say “I’m busy,” or something like that. Nobody will question you. |
| Becky: After apologizing and giving a reason, you should show regret that you can’t go. |
| John: Make it sound like you want to go, even if you don’t. |
| Becky: Let’s hear an example of what you can say. |
| John: “Sorry, I can’t make it, maybe next time.” |
| Becky: “Sounds like it’ll be great, I’m sad to miss it.” |
| John: “I hope you all have a great time!” |
| Becky: “Some other time, maybe.” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson and this series. |
| John: We hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. |
| Becky: Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you in another series! Bye! |
| John: See you! |
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