Learn how to politely decline an invitation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Business Russian for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 25 - Politely Declining an Invitation. John Here. |
| Karina: Привет, I'm Karina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to politely decline an invitation. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Karina: It's between Linda and Alexander. |
| John: The speakers are boss and employee, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Russian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Линда: До свидания, хороших выходных! |
| Александр: Линда, у тебя есть время вечером? У нас будет небольшая вечеринка для мистера Смитта. |
| Линда: Я очень извиняюсь, но у меня уже есть планы на вечер. |
| Александр: Понятно, не беспокойся. |
| Линда: Всё равно спасибо! Хорошего вечера! |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Линда: До свидания, хороших выходных! |
| Александр: Линда, у тебя есть время вечером? У нас будет небольшая вечеринка для мистера Смитта. |
| Линда: Я очень извиняюсь, но у меня уже есть планы на вечер. |
| Александр: Понятно, не беспокойся. |
| Линда: Всё равно спасибо! Хорошего вечера! |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Linda: Goodbye, have a good weekend! |
| Alexander: Linda, do you have time tonight? We're having a little party for Mr. Smith. |
| Linda: I'm really sorry, but I have a commitment tonight! |
| Alexander: I see, don't worry. |
| Linda: Thank you anyway! Good evening! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Wow, another after-work gathering! Linda’s office is a party office! |
| Karina: I’m sure that they are very professional gatherings. |
| John: I guess so. |
| Karina: They’re good team building exercises too. |
| John: I don’t think that there are many phrases more horrible to office workers than “team building exercise.” |
| Karina: Yeah, I think most office workers get irritated by them, but they’ve become popular in Russian business culture lately. |
| John: They’re annoying when you actually have work to do and would rather do that than seminars or whatever’s lined up. |
| Karina: I think that’s why some offices go for exercises such as sports or set up competitions between different departments. |
| John: What type of sports? |
| Karina: Things such as running or skiing marathons, swimming, soccer, or hockey competitions. |
| John: Some companies sponsor or support charities too. |
| Karina: That’s right. Charities such as foster homes or zoos. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Karina: вечеринка [natural native speed] |
| John: party |
| Karina: вечеринка[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: вечеринка [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: есть [natural native speed] |
| John: to eat |
| Karina: есть[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: есть [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: вечер [natural native speed] |
| John: evening, tonight |
| Karina: вечер[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: вечер [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: план [natural native speed] |
| John: plan, commitment |
| Karina: план[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: план [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Karina: уже [natural native speed] |
| John: already |
| Karina: уже[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: уже [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Karina: всё равно [natural native speed] |
| John: anyway |
| Karina: всё равно[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Karina: всё равно [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Karina: Я очень извиняюсь |
| John: ...meaning "I'm really sorry." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Karina: First is the pronoun я, then очень, meaning “very,” and finally извиняюсь. |
| John: This is “apologize” in the passive form. |
| Karina: This phrase has an emotional nuance of uncertainty or putting yourself in a lower position than your partner. |
| John: Are there other ways of saying it? |
| Karina: To be more firm, use простите or извините. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Я очень извиняюсь, но этого не было в контракте. |
| John: ...which means "I'm very sorry, but that was not (mentioned) in contract." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Karina: планы на вечер |
| John: meaning "plans for tonight." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Karina: This is планы |
| John: meaning “plans,” and it’s usually in plural form. |
| Karina: Then there is the preposition на, and finally a period of time. |
| John: So we can use various words, such as “weekend.” |
| Karina: Right. That’s выходные. |
| John: Is this phrase informal or formal? |
| Karina: This phrase is either neutral or informal. So don’t use it in a very official situation or when speaking to your boss. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Karina: Sure. For example, you can say, Какие у тебя планы на вечер? |
| John: ...which means "What are your plans for tonight?" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to politely declining an invitation. Sometimes you have to do this, especially if it’s a late invitation and you already have plans. |
| Karina: Yes, you’ll need to decline politely so as not to be rude or hurt the feelings of the person who invited you. |
| John: What did Linda say in the conversation? |
| Karina: Я очень извиняюсь, но у меня уже есть планы на вечер. |
| John: “I'm really sorry, but I have a commitment tonight!” |
| Karina: You can break the sentence down into an apology, followed by the conjunction но, meaning “but,” and then the reason. |
| John: What other conjunctions are there in Russian? |
| Karina: There are и and а, which both function as “and.” И is used for simple connections, and а for contrast. |
| John: Can we have an example with that second “and?” |
| Karina: Я приду в 5, а он придёт в 6 |
| John: “I’ll come at five, and he’ll come at six.” |
| Karina: You can also use this conjunction at the beginning of a sentence to make a transition smoother. |
| John: It’s also used in counter questions such as "I'm so hungry, how about yourself?" |
| Karina: Which is Я такая голодная, а ты как? Another important conjunction is если. |
| John: This means “if.” Just like in English, it can be put at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence, depending on the structure of the sentence. |
| Karina: Если он меня пригласит, я приду or Я приду, если он меня пригласит |
| John: "If he invites me, I'll come," and "I'll come if he invites me." |
| Karina: There are a couple more conjunctions reviewed in the lesson notes. |
| John: So check them out! But, back to the main lesson topic and declining an invitation. |
| Karina: A nice thing to say after you’ve declined is Всё равно спасибо! Хорошего вечера! |
| John: “Thank you anyway! Have a good evening!” |
| Karina: Всё равно, meaning “anyway,” is similar to how it’s used in English. |
| John: How about that “have a good evening” part? |
| Karina: The word order for Хорошего вечера! is fixed, as it’s a wish. You can also wish a person хорошего дня. |
| John: Which means “good day!” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson, and this series. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Karina: Пока! |
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