영어로 거절하는 법 : 해설

#. 영어로 거절하는 법 : 해설 편

 

Well, I'm planning to go to Toronto next weekend to watch a basketball game, but my ride fell through, I was wondering if I could borrow your car for the day? I'll take real good care of it.

> I don't know if that's a good idea. I don't really feel comfortable letting you drive it.

 

So the first expression that Emma uses to shut Robby down is I don't feel comfortable letting you drive it, right? Mm hmm, I don't feel comfortable letting you drive it. This is a really good way to politely say that you don't want to do something, especially with responsibility attached to it or maybe a valuable item, like a car. You know, if something goes wrong, it's a really big problem, so this is how you can communicate that, "I don't feel comfortable letting you do [something], letting you drive my car."

 

Oh, come on! I'm a good driver. Hey, I'll even but you dinner when I get back.

> Oh, sorry, Robby, it's just not going to happen.

 

Even though Emma says she doesn't feel comfortable lending her car to Robby, Robby persists. He's like, "Come on, " you know. Yeah, he doesn't get it. He doesn't get it. So Emma wants to really firmly tell Robby no because he's not quitting. So how can we really give a firm no to somebody? Well, we make sure that they realize there are no holes. There are no possible little loop holes that they can try to maneuver. Close it down. Exactly. And so Emma says, "Robby, it's just not gonna happen." "It's just not gonna happen."

 

> I wish I could help, but I can't.

 

I also think that "I wish I could help, but I can't." is a really, really good expression, very useful because I could see myself saying, "I don't feel comfortable letting you drive it, sorry. I wish I could help, but I can't. I would definitely say, "I wish I could help, but I can't" because you're showing your intentions are good. and you really wanna support the person, but in this case, it's just not negotiable.

 

So hey, how about doing me a solid and covering my shift?

> Yeah, I'm not able to do that, sorry.

 

Let's take another look at this conversation, specifically when Janet gives her response to Steven saying no she will not cover his shift. So Sue, the way that she started was to say, "I'm not able to do that, sorry." She gave an extremely firm, right to the point answer. That's right, she did. She made it clear from the get-go that she was not able to do the shift. If you just say no, it's way too rude. So the way to not come across as a jerk here is to say something a little more polite than straight up no, right? So she says, "I'm not able to do that, sorry." And then she gives a reason why, saying that Saturday is family night, and she has a personal rule that she doesn't work on Saturdays, and that she's sorry. So she again is showing empathy. She's ending the conversation politely, but she is being firm and saying no at the same time.

 

• shut something down  (공장·가게의) 문을 닫다, (기계를) 정지시키다 (→관련 명사는 shutdown)  shut a person down  욱질러 말을 못 하게 하다

• attached   애착을 가진 (→unattached) ,  ~ 소속의 , 부착된, 첨부된   attach əˈtætʃ 붙이다, 첨부하다 (→detach) 

• persist  pər|sɪst 집요하게 [고집스럽게/끈질기게] 계속하다  persistent  pər|sɪstənt 끈질긴, 집요한   firmly |fɜːrmli 단호히, 확고히   firm 굳은, 단단한, 견고한(solid) ,  회사

• give a firm promise  굳게 약속하다   loop hole (법률, 조세상의) 빠져나갈 구멍.    come across  (특정한) 인상을 주다, ~을 우연히 발견하다

• maneuver  책략 , 술책, 공작, 책동, 교묘한 조작[조치] /  교묘히 이동시키다, 계략을 써서 … 하게 하다, 조종하다   extremely  ɪkˈstriːmli  극도로, 극히

• give a reason  이유를 들다, 이유를 대다