Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

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

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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