Declining an Invitation 拒絕邀請(qǐng)

Some people find that saying "no" to a friend is extremely hard sometimes. Are you this kind of person? If you are tied up and cannot go to your friend's party, how do you say "no" and at the same time sound inoffensive? 拒絕比接受更難。如何委婉得體地拒絕別人?趕快看看下面的10個(gè)例句。

1. I am sorry to turn you down. 我很抱歉必須拒絕你。

Turn you down 就是拒絕別人的要求。例如有一次請(qǐng)老美去參加一個(gè) party，她說(shuō)她很抱歉無(wú)法參加，就是用的這句I am sorry to turn you down.。另外男生追女生，女生想拒絕他，也可以用 turn down。例如I am sorry but I have to turn you down.。

另外不要忘，turn down 還有一個(gè)解釋就是把音量或是空調(diào)關(guān)小。還有不要把 turn you down 和 let you down 搞混，這二者是完全不同的意思：turn down 表示拒絕，而 let down 則表示讓人家失望。

2. I am not interested. 我沒(méi)有興趣。

當(dāng)電話(huà)推銷(xiāo)員找上門(mén)來(lái)，這時(shí)你要說(shuō)的就是I am not interested，這樣子對(duì)方就不會(huì)糾纏太久了。

通常在拒絕別人的時(shí)候要注意一下說(shuō)話(huà)的語(yǔ)氣，像這句 I am not interested. 聽(tīng)來(lái)就不太客氣。通常要使得拒絕別人的話(huà)聽(tīng)來(lái)客氣一點(diǎn)，只要在句首加上I am sorry.整句話(huà)的口氣立刻就不一樣了。所以禮貌一點(diǎn)的說(shuō)法就是I am sorry. I am not interested. 聽(tīng)起來(lái)是不是客氣很多?

3. I'll think about it. 我要考慮看看。

這句話(huà)是在買(mǎi)東西時(shí)候講的。例如你去百貨公司專(zhuān)柜買(mǎi)化裝品，雖然專(zhuān)柜小姐講了半天你也覺(jué)得還不錯(cuò)，但總覺(jué)得太貴，你就可以說(shuō)OK, I'll think about it.我再考慮看看。當(dāng)然你就可以趁機(jī)脫身了。

4. I can't afford it. 我付不起。

一樣?xùn)|西太貴你買(mǎi)不起就可以這么說(shuō)I can't afford it. 你都講明沒(méi)錢(qián)了，想必人家不會(huì)繼續(xù)糾纏吧。

美國(guó)買(mǎi)東西都有所謂的 refund 制度，就是東西買(mǎi)完之后不滿(mǎn)意都可以拿去退錢(qián)。有時(shí)候店員會(huì)問(wèn)你(通常不會(huì)問(wèn))為什么要拿來(lái) refund，通常你就可以直截了當(dāng)?shù)卣f(shuō)I don't like it.或者It's too expensive. I can't afford it.。

5. I can't handle it. 我應(yīng)付不來(lái)。

Handle 跟 afford 的區(qū)別要分清楚：handle 指的是事情上應(yīng)付不來(lái)，而 afford 多半指金錢(qián)上無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)。例如工作很多做不完，你就可以說(shuō) There's too much workload here. I can't handle it.。

6. I am really not in the mood. 我真的沒(méi)有什么心情。

Mood 解釋成心情，沒(méi)有心情你可以說(shuō)成I don't have the mood. 或者I am not in the mood.。比如考試期間，別人還找你出去玩，你就可以這么拒絕I am sorry. I am really not in the mood.。

7. There is nothing to talk about. 沒(méi)什么好說(shuō)的。

當(dāng)別人問(wèn)你不想回答或懶得回答的問(wèn)題時(shí)，你就可以說(shuō)There is nothing to talk about.。例如有人問(wèn)你考試考幾分，你自己考得太差而不想講，就可以說(shuō)There is nothing to talk about." 另外一個(gè)類(lèi)似的用法叫 No comment. 就是無(wú)可奉告的意思。

8. I really want to, but I got hundreds of things to do. 我想去，可是我有好多好多事情要做。

別人邀請(qǐng)你參加他們的活動(dòng)，就算你不想去，也不要直截了當(dāng)?shù)卣f(shuō) No, I don't want to.這樣子別人下次可能就不會(huì)找你了。試著用這種比較好的說(shuō)法。先說(shuō) I really want to 或者I really love to，再說(shuō) but I got hundreds of things to do. 這樣感覺(jué)上比較禮貌，也比較不會(huì)讓別人覺(jué)得沒(méi)面子。

9. I don't want to go and that's that. 我不想，就是這樣。

That's that 通常是接在否定句后，意為就這樣了，不必再多說(shuō)了。這種語(yǔ)氣是很強(qiáng)烈的，通常聽(tīng)的人可能會(huì)不太高興。假如電話(huà)推銷(xiāo)員很煩人，那就可以跟他說(shuō) That's that.。

That's that. 跟That's it.不太一樣。That's it. 的意思是就這樣吧，就這些吧，在點(diǎn)餐時(shí)使用。That's that 則是表示不想再跟對(duì)方談下去了。同樣的情況，你也可以這么說(shuō)The conversation is over."。

10. That's enough, anymore is just overkill. 那就夠了，再多一點(diǎn)也是多余的。

Overkill 在美國(guó)的口語(yǔ)里就是多余的意思，它跟 kill 一點(diǎn)關(guān)系也沒(méi)有。例如跟一個(gè)老美打球，打了二局之后問(wèn)他還要不要再打，他就說(shuō)That's enough, anymore is just overkill.又如吃東西時(shí)你問(wèn)別人還要不要再吃，如果別人吃不下了就可以說(shuō)No, thanks. That's overkill.。

禮貌拒絕的典型例句 Refusing invitations without being offensive：

That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid that I'm tied up on Saturday. 非常感謝, 可是恐怕我周六沒(méi)時(shí)間。

I'd really like to, but I'm already booked up for next Saturday. 我很想去，但是我下周六的日程己經(jīng)安排滿(mǎn)了。

I wish I could, but I have an appointment on Saturday. 我真希望能去，但是我周六和別人約好了。

Thanks for asking me, but I am going to be out of town that evening. 謝謝你邀請(qǐng)我，但是我那天晚上要去外地。

I'm really sorry about that! 非常抱歉!

Thanks, anyway. 還是謝謝你!

I would like very much to join you another time. 希望我下次能參加。