Learn how to refuse politely
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| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 6 - Refusing politely. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to politely refuse an invitation in German. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the informal way to say 'No, thank you.' in German. |
| Albert: [Normal] Nein danke. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'No' |
| Albert: [Normal] Nein [Slow] Nein |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'Thank you' |
| Albert: [Normal] danke [Slow] danke |
| Eric: Listen again to the informal phrase meaning 'No, thank you.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Nein danke. [Normal] Nein danke. |
| Eric: Ok, now let's see the informal way to say 'Thanks, but I’ve had enough.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Danke, aber ich habe genug. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'Thank you' |
| Albert: [Normal] Danke [Slow] Danke |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'but' |
| Albert: [Normal] aber [Slow] aber |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'I' |
| Albert: [Normal] ich [Slow] ich |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'have' |
| Albert: [Normal] habe [Slow] habe |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'enough' |
| Albert: [Normal] genug [Slow] genug |
| Eric: Listen again to the informal phrase meaning 'Thanks, but I’ve had enough.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Danke, aber ich habe genug. [Normal] Danke, aber ich habe genug. |
| Eric: Next up is the way to say 'Thanks a lot, but I can’t accept this.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Vielen Dank, aber ich kann das nicht annehmen. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'Many thanks.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Vielen Dank [Slow] Vielen Dank |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'but' |
| Albert: [Normal] aber [Slow] aber |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'I cannot do ' |
| Albert: [Normal] ich kann das nicht [Slow] ich kann das nicht |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'to accept' |
| Albert: [Normal] annehmen [Slow] annehmen |
| Eric: Listen again to the phrase meaning 'Thanks a lot, but I can’t accept this.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Vielen Dank, aber ich kann das nicht annehmen. [Normal] Vielen Dank, aber ich kann das nicht annehmen. |
| Eric: Finally, here’s a way to say 'Thanks a lot, but I already have plans.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Vielen Dank, aber ich habe schon Pläne. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'Many thanks.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Vielen Dank [Slow] Vielen Dank |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'but' |
| Albert: [Normal] aber [Slow] aber |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'I have' |
| Albert: [Normal] ich habe [Slow] ich habe |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'already' |
| Albert: [Normal] schon [Slow] schon |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'plans' |
| Albert: [Normal] Pläne [Slow] Pläne |
| Eric: Listen again to the phrase meaning 'Thanks a lot, but I already have plans.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Vielen Dank, aber ich habe schon Pläne. [Normal] Vielen Dank, aber ich habe schon Pläne. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Albert: When you're not sure if you can make something or not, you can say Ich weiß nicht which means "I don't know." Using this phrase is more polite than directly turning down their suggestions. |
| Ich weiß nicht works in almost all situations, whether you don't know something or don't want to do something. |
Outro |
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| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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