EP18 拒绝 Refusing a request

EP18 拒绝 Refusing a request

Make and refuse a request in Chinese;

Learn to say “no”: How to refuse a request politely in Chinese?

Part I Chinese 101

Dialogue:

A:打扰了,能麻烦您帮我填个问卷吗?

dǎ rǎo le,néng má fán nín bāng wǒ tián gè wèn juàn ma

Excuse me for bothering you, but could you please help me fill out a questionaire?

B:对不起,我现在没空。

duì bù qǐ ,wǒ xiàn zài méi kòng. 

Sorry, I’m not available at present.

Words & Expressions:

【打扰】dǎ rǎo:n. Disturb, trouble

打扰一下Excuse me

不要打扰我,我很忙。Don’t disturb me, I’m busy.

【能】néng:

v.can; be able to; be capable of

adj.able; capable

n.ability; capability; power

你能帮我吗? Could you please help me?

我能说中文。I can speak Chinese.

你不能这样做。You can’t do this.

【麻烦】má fán:n.bother; troublesome; inconvenient

给您添麻烦了。Sorry to trouble you.

这件事很麻烦。This is very troublesome.

能麻烦你帮我吗? May I trouble you to help me

【填】tián:v.fill; write; stuff; fill in

【问卷】wèn juàn:n.questionnaire

【现在】xiàn zài: n.now; at present

【没空】méi kòng:not available; no time; not free

填空 tian kòng: fill in the blank

Part II Language Tips

•  “Yes” people and “No” people: which kind people you are? 

• When will you refuse a request and what kind of requests are more liked to be refused? 

• What should people pay attention to if they want to make their requests to be granted?

• Learn to say “No”: How to refuse a request politely?

Part III Story of The Day

己所不欲,勿施于人

jǐ suǒ bú yù ,wù shī yú rén

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

The spirit of Confucius is the touchstone for many Chinese people and Chinese philosophy. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is one of his famous views.

Literal meaning: whatever you wouldn't like to be done to yourself, don't do it to others; do unto others as you would have them do unto you

E.g

己所不欲,勿施于人,你自己不喜欢做家务就不要去强迫你的室友去做.

jǐ suǒ bú yù ,wù shī yú rén ,nǐ zì jǐ bú xǐ huān zuò jiā wù jiù bú yào qù qiáng pò nǐ de shì yǒu qù zuò .

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don't want to do housework, don't ask your roommates to do it for you.