Decline an invitation politely

You cannot go today

• you你nǐto go去qù(yes/no ?)吗ma？ Nǐ qù ma? — Are you going?
• I / me我wǒnot不bùto go去qù。 Wǒ bú qù. — I am not going. to go去qù qù means go; not不bù negates it here.

Put not不bù before the action

• For this simple pattern, use person + not不bù + verb: I / me我wǒnot不bùto go去qù. Before the fourth-tone to go去qù, not不bù is pronounced bú.
• A natural short answer to you你nǐto go去qù(yes/no ?)吗ma？ is to go去qù or 不去bù qù. Repeating the verb is useful; you do not have to use to be / is是shì for every yes/no reply.

Soften the refusal

• to feel embarrassed不好意思bù hǎo yì sī，I / me我wǒnot不bùto go去qù。 Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ bú qù. — Sorry, I’m not going.
• Learn to feel embarrassed不好意思bù hǎo yì sī as a whole courtesy phrase. Add to thank谢谢xiè xiè if you want to acknowledge the invitation.

Hear the difference

• Which sentence is negative? Play each one:
• Do not worry about every negative form today. For to have / there is有yǒu yǒu — have, the usual negative is not have / haven't没有méi yǒu méiyǒu — do not have; a later unit practises it.

Reply without reading

• Hear you你nǐto go去qù(yes/no ?)吗ma？ and give a positive reply, then a polite negative reply. Use to go去qù / 不去bù qù.
• Later today, recall the refusal phrase without reopening this page. A forgotten word is a cue to review, not a failure.

Next: ask what and who.