LESSON NOTES

3-Minute French S1 #6
Refusing politely

CONTENTS
2 French
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 6
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 FRENCH

1. Non merci.

2. Sans façon.

3. Désolé(e), mais je suis indisponible.

4. Désolé(e), je suis déjà occupé(e).

ENGLISH

1. No, thank you. (informal)

2. No, thank you. (formal)

3. Sorry, but I already have plans. (formal)

4. Sorry, but I already have plans. (informal)

VOCABULARY

Fr e nc h English C lass Ge nde r

non no expression

merci thank you interjection

sans without preposition

façon fuss noun feminine

désolé(e) sorry adjective masculine/feminine

coordinating
mais but conjunction

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 je I pronoun neuter

suis am verb

indisponible unavailable adjective

déjà already adverb

occupé(e) busy Adjective masculine/feminine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Non, je ne suis pas Madame Henr i. Non, je ne suis pas d'accor d.

"No, I'm not Madame Henri." "No, I don't agree."

Non, ce n'est pas vr ai. Mer ci énor mément .

"No, it's not true." "T hanks a lot."

Cela va sans dir e. J e suis fat igué(e) mais je dois finir ce

r appor t ce soir .
"It's without saying."
"I'm sleepy but I have to finish this
report tonight."

J e sais que t u es occupé mais t u Il aime la cuisine it alienne, mais elle

peux appeler mon avocat ? ador e la cuisine chinoise!

"I know you are busy. But can you "He likes Italian cuisine, but she
call my lawyer?" loves Chinese cuisine!"

J e suis fr ançais, mais je ne suis pas Il boit , mais il a encor e soif.

chauvin.
"He drinks, but he's still thirsty."
"I am French, but I am not
chauvinistic."

J e m'appelle Anne Pr oust . Il est déjà amour eux!

"My name is Anne Proust." "He is already in love!"

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Il a déjà pr is une décision. J e suis t oujour s occupé(e) en
semaine.
"He already made a decision."
"I am always busy during the week."

Es-t u occupé samedi? J e suis occupé aujour d'hui. J e ne

peux pas venir .
"Are you busy on Saturday?"
"I am busy. I can't come."

J e suis occupée t out e la jour née.

"I am busy the whole day."

GRAMMAR

In this lesson you will learn how to refuse politely an invite..

Regist er French English Impor t ant

Not es

Phr ase 1 infor mal Non merci. No, t hank you.

Word 1 non no

Word 2 merci thank you

Phr ase 2 for mal Sans façon. No, t hank you.

Word 1 sans without

Word 2 façon fuss

Désolé(e), Sor r y, but I

mais je suis alr eady have
Phr ase 3 for mal
indisponible. plans.

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 The
pronunciation
is the same
but when
written there is
a difference if
Word 1
désolé(e) sorry the speaker is
male or
female. For a
female, we
write an "e" at
the end.

Word 2 mais but

Word 3 je I

Word 4 suis am conjugated

verb

Word 5 indisponible unavailable

Désolé(e), je Sor r y, but I

suis déjà alr eady have
Phr ase 4 infor mal
occupé(e). plans.

The
pronunciation
is the same
but when
written there is
a difference if
Word 1 désolé(e) sorry the speaker is
male or
female. For a
female, we
write an "e" at
the end.

Word 2 je I

Word 3 suis am conjugated

verb

Word 4 déjà already

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CULTURAL INSIGHT

"Non merci" (no thank you) can seem a bit strong, if you want to sound more polite, it's good
to use "désolé(e) mais..." (sorry but...) and then give some reason when refusing something.

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