7 Casual English Expressions for Saying “No” Naturally & Politely

Saying “no” in English sounds easy… until you actually have to do it. In real conversations, native English speakers often avoid using a direct “no” because it can sound too strong or rude. In this lesson, I’ll teach you natural, casual, and polite ways to refuse invitations in English, reject offers, and say you don’t want something – without making the situation awkward. You’ll learn expressions like “It’s not in the cards”, “It’s a no-go”, “Thanks, but no thanks”, “I can’t make it”, and more. I’ll also explain why you don’t always need to give a long explanation when refusing something in English. Take the quiz on this lesson here: https://www.engvid.com/natural-english-7-better-ways-to-say-no/

Get confident with me! Sign up for private lessons at https://www.EnglishWithRonnie.com
Videos to watch next:
Talk to Anyone With Confidence (Even If You're Nervous) https://youtu.be/H-09G80-ktQ
How to Succeed in Work Meetings https://youtu.be/4AO6umBH6gQ

In this lesson:
0:00 Informal ways to say 'no' confidently!
0:43 It's a no for me.
1:41 It's not in the cards.
2:13 It's a no-go.
2:40 Thanks for the invite, but I can't.
3:40 Sorry, but I can't make it. Maybe another time.
4:09 Thanks, but no thanks.
4:41 I'm good.

Transcript:
I'm Ronnie, and I'm here to help you speak and be more confident in yourself and in English. One difficult thing is saying "no". I mean, "no", it's not difficult to say, but in certain social situations, people feel bad, or they really don't want to do something, but they feel pressure and don't know how to say "no" in English, you can just say "no", and people are like, "That's so rude!" So I'm going to teach you some cool, up-to-date, some hip ways to just say "no", okay? Just say "no" to drugs.

The first one, any time you use "unfortunately" at the beginning of the sentence, right away the person knows that you're going to say "no". So, if someone says, "Hey, Ronnie, would you like to go and eat some ice cream with me tomorrow?" I would say, "Unfortunately, it's a 'no' for me." Some people like to get into long explanations, right? It's a "no" for me because, like, yesterday I had ice cream, and then the day before I had an ice cream, or maybe I just don't like you. So, a really important trick is, hey, you don't have to tell the person why. It's not their business. So if someone asks you to do something and you don't want to do it, a nice little "Oh, it's not in the cards" works perfectly. People go... Take some time to think. Now, if your friend or the person asking you asks you why, then you can make up... I mean, give a reason. This is my favourite. "It's not in the cards." "Hey, Ronnie, you want to come do cartwheels down the subway line with me tomorrow?" "Ah, you know what? It's not in the cards because it's dangerous." Why would you do that? Cartwheels. I don't think I've done a cartwheel in a while. I'll practice, though.

Very, very slang expression. "Would you like to go to the amusement park with me?" "Nah, it's a no-go." And it doesn't have to be, like, you're going somewhere. "Do you want some more pie? It's a no-go. Give your pie to me. I'll eat your pie." But anything that you reject or you don't want, just say, "Oh, it's a no-go, sorry." This is fun. And this is genuine, too.

Sometimes maybe your friend invites you someplace and you really want to go, but you're busy or you've double-booked, that means you have two things at the same time, like your plan was to stay at home and watch out the window, while your friend's like, "Oh, man, you should come to the party." And you're like, "Oh, you know, I've double-booked."

So you can say, "Thanks for the invite." Now this is... This is slang. We don't say, "Thanks for the invitation", we say, "Thanks for the invite", you know, but I can't. You see, I didn't give a reason. You don't need to give a reason. I can't. And then they go, "Oh, what could it be? Maybe... Oh, Ronnie's doing other cool things, I know that. Staying at home, watching the window again. Thanks for the invite, but I'm not going." That's a really good way to open it.

"Thank you, but no. Sorry, but I can't make it. Oh, hey, do you want to come to my friend's wedding tomorrow? Oh, you know, sorry, I can't make it. Maybe, maybe, not 100% definitely, but maybe another time." So you're not rejecting the person and saying, like, "Mm-mm, bye", you're like, "Yeah, yeah, maybe another time." Like, bad timing, right? This is a... This is a really fun one. "I'm sorry. I'm here. I'm the CEO of YouTube, and I want to award you for 5 billion subscribers this awesome YouTube hat." "Oh, thanks, but no thanks." See how polite that was? So, these are really nice ways or just straight-up ways of sounding better instead of going, like, "No. I don't want it. Get it away from me." […]

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