Declining an Invitation 拒絕邀請
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個例句:
1. I'll think about it. 我要考慮看看。
這句話是在買東西時候講的。例如你去百貨公司專櫃買化裝品，雖然專櫃小姐講了半天你也覺得還不錯，但總覺得太貴，你就可以說OK, I'll think about it.我再考慮看看。當然你就可以趁機脫身了。
2. I am not interested. 我沒有興趣。
當電話推銷員找上門來，這時你要說的就是I am not interested，這樣子對方就不會糾纏太久了。
通常在拒絕別人的時候要注意一下說話的語氣，像這句 I am not interested. 聽來就不太客氣。通常要使得拒絕別人的話聽來客氣一點，只要在句首加上I am sorry.整句話的口氣立刻就不一樣了。所以禮貌一點的說法就是I am sorry. I am not interested. 聽起來是不是客氣很多?
3. 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。例如有一次請老美去參加一個 party，她說她很抱歉無法參加，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 還有一個解釋就是把音量或是空調關小。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。
4. I am really not in the mood. 我真的沒有什麼心情。
Mood 解釋成心情，沒有心情你可以說成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，你就可以這麼拒絕I am sorry. I am really not in the mood.。
5. I can't handle it. 我應付不來。
Handle 跟 afford 的區別要分清楚：handle 指的是事情上應付不來，而 afford 多半指金錢上無法負擔。例如工作很多做不完，你就可以說 There's too much workload here. I can't handle it.。
6. There is nothing to talk about. 沒什麼好說的。
當別人問你不想回答或懶得回答的問題時，你就可以說There is nothing to talk about.。例如有人問你考試考幾分，你自己考得太差而不想講，就可以說There is nothing to talk about." 另外一個類似的用法叫 No comment. 就是無可奉告的意思。
7. I can't afford it. 我付不起。
一樣東西太貴你買不起就可以這麼說I can't afford it. 你都講明沒錢了，想必人家不會繼續糾纏吧。
美國買東西都有所謂的 refund 制度，就是東西買完之後不滿意都可以拿去退錢。有時候店員會問你(通常不會問)為什麼要拿來 refund，通常你就可以直截了當地說I don't like it.或者It's too expensive. I can't afford it.。
8. That's enough, anymore is just overkill. 那就夠了，再多一點也是多餘的。
Overkill 在美國的口語裡就是多餘的意思，它跟 kill 一點關係也沒有。例如跟一個老美打球，打了二局之後問他還要不要再打，他就說That's enough, anymore is just overkill.又如吃東西時你問別人還要不要再吃，如果別人吃不下了就可以說No, thanks. That's overkill.。
9. I don't want to go and that's that. 我不想，就是這樣。
That's that 通常是接在否定句後，意為就這樣了，不必再多說了。這種語氣是很強烈的，通常聽的人可能會不太高興。假如電話推銷員很煩人，那就可以跟他說 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，在點餐時使用。That's that 則是表示不想再跟對方談下去了。同樣的情況，你也可以這麼說The conversation is over."。
10. 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。
別人邀請你參加他們的活動，就算你不想去，也不要直截了當地說 No, I don't want to.這樣子別人下次可能就不會找你了。試著用這種比較好的說法。先說 I really want to 或者I really love to，再說 but I got hundreds of things to do. 這樣感覺上比較禮貌，也比較不會讓別人覺得沒面子。
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, 可是恐怕我周六沒時間。
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安排滿了。
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。