Learn how to decline an invitation and give reasons for doing so
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone! Welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Japanese for Everyday Life Lower Intermediate Series, Lesson 19 - Politely Declining a Friend’s Offer. |
| Kaori: こんにちは！古橋香織 です！Hi everyone, Kaori Furuhashi here! |
| Becky: I'm Becky. In this lesson, you'll learn a useful skill for maintaining good relationships with your friends - How to say no to an invitation from your friend. |
| Kaori:Becky さん、友達に誘われたけど、あまり行きたくなくて、断ったことって、ありますか。 |
| Becky: Yes, when my friend asked me to go to the beach together in mid summer, I didn’t want to, and said no. |
| Kaori: その時、何て言って断ったんですか。 |
| Becky: How did I say no at that time? I said, I was not good with the heat, so I think I’ll pass this time. What would you say in Japanese? |
| Kaori: 暑いの苦手だから。今回は遠慮しておくよ。 |
| Becky: "I’m not good with heat. So, I think I’ll pass this time." |
| Kaori: 気が進まない（E- "not feel like doing"）理由を言ってから、断る方がいいですよね。 |
| Becky: Right. It's better to explain why you don’t feel like it, and say no, so that you can keep a good relationship with your friend. |
| Kaori: それから、このレッスンのダイアローグは、友達同士の会話です。カジュアルな話し方を勉強しましょう。 |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn casual conversation between friends. |
| MODEL DIALOG |
| Becky: Listen to the dialogue and participate when prompted by speaking aloud in Japanese. Use the patterns of Japanese you studied in the Beginner-level lessons. After you speak, you'll hear a model line of dialogue. Your answer doesn't need to be exactly the same, but do compare your response to the model line. |
| In this lesson, you'll play the role of a person who is asked by a friend to go snowboarding. Your goal is to say no to the friend nicely. |
| Friend: 今度の週末、スノボに行かない？ |
| Becky: Your friend asked you to go snowboarding this weekend. Say, “I haven’t tried snowboarding." |
| You : 私、スノボ、やったことないんだよね。 |
| Friend: 大丈夫、僕が教えてあげるから。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “No problem. I’ll show you.” Say, “It looks hard. It’s impossible for me.” |
| You : でも、むずかしそう。私には無理だよ。 |
| Friend: そんなこと言わないで、考えてみてよ。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “Don’t say that. Think about it.” Say, “Ah, I’m not good in the cold. I think I'll pass this time. Sorry." |
| You : う～ん。寒いの苦手だし。今回は、遠慮するよ。ごめん。 |
| Friend: そっかぁ。残念。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “OK. But too bad.” Say, “I’m really sorry. Please invite me for another occasion.” |
| You : ほんと、ごめんね。また、別の機会に、誘ってね。 |
| VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Here are some useful words and phrases for this task. The first word is, |
| Kaori: 苦手、 |
| Becky: “bad at”, or “dislike” |
| Kaori: 苦手 (slow), 苦手 |
| Kaori: モデルダイアローグでは、「寒いの苦手だし。」と言っていました。これは、嫌いだという意味ですね。 |
| Becky: It means “I don’t like cold weather.” |
| Becky: The opposite word to (J- 苦手）is, |
| Kaori: 得意 |
| Becky: good at |
| Kaori: 得意(slow), 得意 |
| Becky: It’s used to mean “good at something” but isn’t used to mean “like”. |
| Kaori: そうですね。でも、「得意じゃない」は、「苦手」と同じように、don’t like の意味で使うことがあります。たとえば、「私は、魚は得意じゃない。」(E- "I don’t like fish.") |
| Becky: Its negative form （J- 得意じゃない） means “not good at,” or “don’t like” |
| Kaori: 得意じゃない, 得意じゃない |
| Becky: Next is, |
| Kaori: 無理 |
| Becky: impossible |
| Kaori: 無理, 無理 |
| Becky: How is it used in the model dialog? |
| Kaori: 「私にはできない。」という意味で、「私には無理だ」と言っていましたね。 |
| Becky: She said (J- 私には無理だ) to mean “it’s impossible for me to do.” |
| Becky: Here are some useful words to say “no” nicely. The first is, |
| Kaori: 遠慮する。 |
| Becky: pass on |
| Kaori: 遠慮する、遠慮する |
| Becky: Its primary meaning is “hold back”, but it can be used as a polite rejection to an invitation or suggestion. |
| Becky: Here is another phrase meaning “pass on.” |
| Kaori: やめておく |
| Kaori: やめる |
| Becky: means “stop doing something” |
| Kaori: おく |
| Becky: It’s an auxiliary verb that follows the te-form of another verb, and can add the meaning “do something in advance.” |
| Kaori: やめておく |
| Becky: literally means “stop doing something in advance.” So, naturally, “pass on doing something.” |
| Kaori: 「やめておく」というときは、よくない結果になりそうなので、前もって、やらないという意味です。 |
| Becky: When you say (J- やめておく), you mean that as you expect something that’s not good to happen, you want to decline to do that in advance. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: Now, this task requires a few sentences to express you're not interested in the invitation. First is, "It looks hard, and it’s impossible for me.” |
| Kaori: むずかしそう。私には無理だよ。 |
| Kaori: 誘われて、あまり行きたくないなと思ったとき、すぐに断るのは、ちょっと失礼な感じがしますよね。その前に、興味がないということを伝える方がいいですね。 |
| Becky: Right. If you reject the invitation right away - even when you don’t feel like it, it would sound a little rude. You might want to imply that you're not interested in the invitation before that. |
| Kaori: ダイアローグでは、断る前に、ほかに、どんなことを言っていましたか。 |
| Kaori: 「寒いの苦手だし。」と言っていましたね。 |
| Becky: I don’t like cold weather. |
| Kaori: これも、断りたいと思っている理由ですね。 |
| Becky: This is another reason why she didn’t want to go. |
| Kaori: ここでは、文の最後に「し」がついていますね。カジュアルな会話では、その文が、何かの理由になっているとき、文の最後に「し」を付けて言います。 |
| Becky: In casual conversation, you add (J- し) at the end of a sentence to indicate that the sentence is a reason for something. |
| Kaori: たとえば、「お茶しようか。時間あるし。（E- "Why don’t we have tea? Because we have time.”) といいます。「時間がある」は、理由なので、最後に「し」がついています。 |
| Becky: You were invited to go fishing by your friend. But, you don’t feel like going. Tell him that you're not good with fish. |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori: さかな、苦手だし。 |
| Becky: You were invited to go to karaoke by your friend. But, you don’t feel like it. Tell him that you are not good at singing as a reason. |
| (Pause) |
| Kaori: 歌うの、苦手だし。 or 歌うの、得意じゃないし。 |
| Becky: I’m not good at singing, so… |
| Becky: The next key expression for this task is, “I’ll pass on it this time.” |
| Kaori: 今回は、遠慮するよ。 |
| Becky: Another expression is, |
| Kaori: 今回は、やめておくよ。 |
| Becky: If you don’t want to say a word meaning “pass on”, you can just say, |
| Kaori: 今回は、ごめん。 |
| Becky: Literally, it’s translated as “Sorry for this time.” But, it means “Sorry that I’ll pass this time.” |
| TIP |
| Becky: In this dialog, after rejecting the invitation she said “Please invite me for another occasion.” |
| Kaori: また別の機会に誘ってね。 |
| Becky: It’s important to say so to maintain a good friendship. |
| Kaori: 誘いを断ったら、最後に、「また別の機会に誘ってね」とか、「また今度誘ってね。(E "Invite me next time again.") と言うといいですね。 |
| PRACTICE OF DIALOG |
| Becky: Now try to participate in the dialogue using some alternative words you learned in this lesson. This time you'll play the role of a person who's invited to play tennis by a friend. Use as many of the expressions you learned in this lesson as possible. Let's get started! |
| Friend: 今週の土曜日、テニスしない？ |
| Becky: Your friend asked you to play tennis this Saturday. Say, “I haven’t played tennis before." |
| You : 私、テニス、やったことないんだよね。 |
| Friend: 大丈夫、僕が教えてあげるから。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “No problem. I’ll show you. Say, “It looks hard. It’s impossible for me.” |
| You : でも、むずかしそう。私には無理だよ。 |
| Friend: そんなこと言わないで、考えてみてよ。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “Don’t say that. Think about it.” Say, “Hmm, I’m not good at sports. I think I'll pass this time. Sorry." |
| You : う～ん。スポーツ得意じゃないし。今回は、遠慮するよ。ごめん。 |
| Friend: そっかぁ。残念。 |
| Becky: Your friend said, “OK. But too bad.” Say, “I’m really sorry. Please invite me again next time.” |
| You : ほんと、ごめんね。また、今度、誘ってね。 |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, That’s all for this lesson. |
| Kaori: 友達の誘いを断ったことはありますか。うまくできましたか？コメント欄で教えてくださいね。 |
| Becky: In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to cancel your appointment at the last minute. |
| Kaori: それではまた！ |
| Becky: See you all next time! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide