英语表达拒绝的经典句

要拒绝别人光是说 "No." 是不够的, 还得要有充分的理由才行.  特别是在对付那些打电话来推销的人.   此外, 要很客气又很礼貌地拒绝别人也是一门学问, 例如别人约你出去, 你要如何婉拒他, 让人家下次却愿意再找你呢?( 除非人家对你有意思, 那又另当别论了).  像我刚来美国没买车, 买菜都要靠别人接送, 所以学长就有交代, 别人如果找你去买菜, 就算你不太想去, 最好还是不要拒绝人家, 不然你一次不去, 二次不去, 第三次人家就不找你了.  所以我就曾一天之内去买了三次菜, 看来要拒绝别人还真是不容易耶.   这集就让我们来看看怎么用英语拒绝别人.

1. I am sorry to turn you down.

我很抱歉必须拒绝你.

Turn you down 就是拒绝别人的要求, 例如有一次我要请老美去参加一个 party, 她说她很抱歉无法参加, 就是用的这句, "I am sorry to turn you down.", 另外像是男生要追女生, 女生要拒绝他, 也可以用 turn down, 例如, "I am sorry but I have to turn you down."

另外不要忘了, turn down 还有一个解释就是把音量或是冷气关小..   以前我也常把 turn you down 和 let you down 搞混了, 这二者是完全不同的意思, turn down 表示拒绝, 而 let down 则表示让人家失望.

 

2. I am not interested.

我没有兴趣.

刚来美国, 家里又有电话的人一定要赶快把这句话学会, 因为很快地就会有电话推销员找上门来, 这时你要说的就是, "I am not interested." 这样子对方就不会纠缠太久了.

通常在拒绝别人的时候要注意一下说话的语气.  像这句 "I am not interested." 听来就不太客气.   通常要使得拒绝别人的话听来客气一点, 只要在句首加上. "I am sorry." 整句话的口气立刻就不一样了.   所以礼貌一点的说法应该是, "I am sorry.  I am not interested." 听来是不是客气很多?

 

3. I'll think about it.

我要考虑看看.

这句话也是在买东西时候讲的, 例如你去百货公司专柜买化装品, 虽然专柜小姐讲了半天你也觉得还不错, 但总觉得太贵, 你就可以说, "OK, I'll think about it." 就是我再考虑看看了! 当然你就可以趁机脱身了.

 

4. I can't afford it

我付不起.

一样东西太贵你买不起就可以这么说,  "I can't afford it." 你都讲明了我没钱了, 想必人家不会继续纠缠吧! 其实不然, 我自己就遇到过蛮恶劣的.  我说, "I can't afford it." 那个老黑居然说, "Do you have credit card?" 天啊! 要我借钱买东西, 门都没有, 我就说, "No." 没想到他更狠, 说我们有自己的信用卡, 你要不要现场申请一张, 我们可以立刻给你  $1,000 的 credit. 天啊! 作生意作成这样, 也太夸张了.

美国买东西都有所谓的 refund 制度, 就是东西买完之后不满意都可以拿去退钱.  有时候店员会问你 (通常不会问) 为什么要拿来 refund. 通常你就可以直接了当地说, "I don't like it." 或是 "It's too expensive.  I can't afford it."

 

5. I can't handle it.

我应付不来.

这个 handle 跟 afford 的区别要分清楚, handle 指的是事情上应付不来, 而 afford 多半指金钱上无法负担.  像是上学期我跟我同学说, "I took too many courses, I can't afford it." 她就回答我说, "You mean you can't handle it?" 所以很明显的,  handle 这个字和 afford 是不太一样的.  再举一个例子, 例如工作很多作不完, 你就可以这么说  "There's too much workload here.  I can't handle it." 有时老中会说成  "I can't afford it." 是不正确的用法.

 

6. I am really not in the mood.

我真的没有什么心情.

Mood 解释成心情, 没有心情你可以说成 "I don't have the mood." 或是 "I am not in the mood."  比如考试期间, 别人还找你出去玩, 你就可以这么拒绝他, "I am sorry.  I am really not in the mood."

非广告时间, 我的个人网页叫 ICQ 心情点播站, (其实现在这个网站跟 ICQ 跟心情点播都没什么关系了, 但我还是维持我原来的名称) 而这个站的英文名字就是 ICQ Mood, 听起来还可以吧?

 

7. There is nothing to talk about.

没什么好说的.

当别人问你的问题你不想回答或懒得回答时就可以回答, "There is nothing to talk about."  例如有人问你考试考几分? 你自己考得太差而不想讲, 就可以说, "There is nothing to talk about." 另外一个类似的用法叫 "No comment." 就是说无可奉告的意思.

　

在英语 There is nothing to V. 可当作是一个片语来使用, 解释成没什么好怎样怎样的, 例如 There is nothing to worry about, 就是说没什么好担心的.  记得看某部电影时小孩子问他爸爸, 我们家的钱倒底够不够用, 父亲就对小孩子说, "There is nothing for you to worry about." 

8. I really want to, but I got hundreds of things to do.

我想去, 可是我有好多好多事情要做.

别人邀请你参加他们的活动, 就算你不想去, 也不要直接了当地说 "No, I don't want to." 这样子别人下次可能就不会找你了.   试著用这种比较好的说法.  先说 "I really want to" , 或是 "I really love to", 再来才接著说 "but I got hundreds of things to do".  这样感觉上比较礼貌, 也比较不会让别人觉得没面子.

 

9. I don't want to go and that's that.

我不想去, 就是这样.

That's that 通常是接在否定句后, 意思是, 就这样了, 不必再多说了.  这样的语气是很强烈的, 通常听的人可能会不太高兴.   有时电话推销员很烦人我也会跟他说 "That's that." 也许一开始你只是很客气地说, "I am not interested." 可是有些人就会不识相地一直说, "What do you want me to do to change your mind?" 这时我就会不客气地说, "I don't want it, and that's that." 通常他就会知道你是真的烦了.

"That's that." 这句话跟 "That's it." 不太一样,  "That's it." 的意思是就这样吧, 就这些吧, 在点餐时会用的到.  That's that 则是表示不想再跟对方谈下去了, 同样的情况, 你也可以这么说, "The conversation is over." 我想这个意思也很明显了.

 

10. That's enough, anymore is just overkill.

那就够了, 再多一点也是多馀的.

Overkill 这个字在美国的口语就是多馀的意思, 它跟 kill 是一点关系也没有. 在字典上我查不到" 多馀 " 的意思, 所以诸位看倌也不要浪费时间去查字典了, 但我请教过老美, 这字的确是多馀的意思.  例如有一字跟一个老美打球, 打了二局之后我问他还要不要再打, 他就说, "That's enough, anymore is just overkill." 或是吃东西时你问别人还要不要再吃, 如果别人吃不下了他就可以说, "No, thanks. That's overkill."

1. Stop complaining! 别发牢骚！

2. You make me sick! 你真让我恶心！

3. What’s wrong with you? 你怎么回事？

4. You shouldn’t have done that! 你真不应该那样做!

5. You’re a jerk! 你是个废物/混球！

6. Don’t talk to me like that! 别那样和我说话!

7. Who do you think you are? 你以为你是谁？

8. What’s your problem? 你怎么回事啊？

9. I hate you! 我讨厌你！

10. I don’t want to see your face!我不愿再见到你！

11. You’re crazy! 你疯了!

12. Are you insane/crazy/out of your mind?

你疯了吗？（美国人绝对常用！）

13. Don’t bother me. 别烦我。

14. Knock it off. 少来这一套。

15. Get out of my face. 从我面前消失！

16. Leave me alone. 走开。

17. Get lost.滚开！

18. Take a hike! 哪儿凉快哪儿歇着去吧。

19. You piss me off. 你气死我了。

20. It’s none of your business. 关你屁事！

21. What’s the meaning of this? 这是什么意思？

22. How dare you! 你敢！

23. Cut it out. 省省吧。

24. You stupid jerk! 你这蠢猪！

25. You have a lot of nerve. 脸皮真厚。

26. I’m fed up. 我厌倦了。

27. I can’t take it anymore. 我受不了了！

 

一起来看看老外是怎样拒绝搭讪的吧，你会感受到她们的风趣。

    1．Get out of here！

    滚远一点。（这个一定惹恼了的。）

    2．Leave me alone！

    离我远一点！（同上，看不出我现在很烦啊！）

    3．I’m not available.

    我已经名花有主了。（很委婉、很明确）

    4．Not in this lifetime.

  &

nbsp; 这辈子休想。（别不识相啦！）

    5．I’m expecting a friend.

    我在等朋友。（不是在等你来搭讪。）

    6．Not if you were the last man (woman) on earth.

    除非你是世界上最后一个男（女）人。（老兄先照照镜子吧！）

    7．I’ve quit my baby-sitting job.

    我已经不当保姆了。（你还太嫩。）

    8．I am waiting for my boyfriend (girlfriend).

    我正在等我男朋友（女朋友）。（请不要误会好吗？）

    9．Is begging on the street legal here?

    此地当街乞讨是合法的吗？（你是不是忘了打扮就出来了？）

    10．Only if your name is Brad Pitt (Jennifer Lopez).

    除非你是布拉德?彼特/詹妮佛?洛佩兹。（你远不够格。）

 

 

A Contrastive Study of Refusal Strategies between English and Chinese

 

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

 

The Degree of Master of Arts

In the School of Foreign Studies of Anhui University

(from :http://www.modlinguistics.com/PAPERS/2004/Lijiayu/Lijiayu.htm)　

By Li Jiayu

Under the Supervision of

Professor Zhu Yue

Anhui University

HeFei

April 30, 2004

Acknowledgements

　I am grateful to Professor Zhu Yue, who has admitted me to his “211” Research Project of the contrastive studies of English and Chinese, which has initiated me to set this field as my topic for the postgraduate paper. His originative ideas and constant encouragement have helped me a lot throughout my writing of this paper. I show my sincerest thanks to him.

In addition, I have benefited enormously from the lectures, which I have attended during the past three years of my postgraduate study. These lectures are from Professor Chen Zhengfa, Professor Hong Zengliu, Professor Hu Jian, Professor Hua Quankun, Professor Tian Debei, Professor Wang Xiaoling, Professor Zhang Ming, Professor Zhou Fangzhu and Dr. Zhu Xiaomei. Their lively and enlightening lectures have enriched my knowledge in literature, translation, lexicology, western religion, critique writing, cross-cultural communication and pedagogy.

Thanks also go to Professor Jill Jewell from America, who has given us lectures on British literature. She has helped me a lot in designing the English questionnaires for this paper.

I would also like to thank all those people who have spared their time and efforts to fill in my questionnaires and some of them have even offered me very valuable advice on improving the questionnaires.

Finally, I want to extend my gratitude to my classmates for their kind help not only in my studies but also in my everyday life. Their friendship and encouragement will always be cherished in my heart.

Abstract

This paper is a contrastive study of refusal strategies mainly between English and Chinese, which involves the cross-cultural study of English and Chinese as well as cross-register study from interpersonal communications to shopping activities.

The paper has been based on the following two basic hypotheses: (1) The Chinese culture is generally believed to be collectively oriented while the American individually oriented. The two societies are different and therefore it is hypothesized that the discourse realization patterns of refusal strategies might vary from one country to another, although the role and nature of the speech act of refusing might be universally similar. (2) Registers are language varieties appropriate for use in particular speech situations, which are concerned with the addresser’s and the addressee’s relationships to the discourse field, mode and tenor. Since the register of shopping activities is different from that of interpersonal communications, it is hypothesized that the discourse realization patterns of refusal strategies might vary from one register to another.

The paper has been divided into four chapters. Chapter one serves as a general review of the theory of contrastive study and the findings of contrastive study of refusal strategies in interpersonal communications drawn by the scholars both at home and abroad. It is hoped that this review provides the background for the contrastive analysis of refusal strategies in shopping activities. Chapter two focuses on the relevant cross-cultural-register analysis after presenting the goals, the subjects, the designing of questionnaires and the methods for data collection in shopping activities. Chapter three is to take into consideration the theoretical discussion of refusal perception, production, interpretation and reducibility. Chapter four summarizes the key points of the whole paper.

The findings drawn from interpersonal communications indicate that the Chinese tend to use the politeness refusal strategy of “marginally touching the point” because they are more economical in their choices of the number of the tokens of the refusal strategies so that they could restore relationship with people. One polite mode of refusing is “address term + apology + reasons”. The Americans tend to use a “question attentiveness” strategy. They try to employ different refusal strategies in order that the problems in question could be solved. One polite mode of refusing is “ I would like to + reasons + apology”.

The findings also indicate that cooperation and politeness are what people in both cultures are concerned about, because to satisfy others’ faces is to save your own face. However, none of the social situations is completely cooperative, and social situations, in essence, involve some degree of tension between cooperation and antagonism. The register of shopping activities is different from that of interpersonal communications. In the former, people seem to care more about the interests of earning or losing brought about by the goods-money exchanges than the public faces. They usually do not tend to sacrifice their interests to satisfy others’ faces, so they are more economical of and direct in making refusals to others. The study shows that in shopping activities the Chinese tend to employ the mode of “prefaces + phony approval + reasons”, while the Americans would like to use the mode of “prefaces / no + thanks + reasons”. Moreover, the Chinese tend to use the objective reasons such as goods-oriented or attendants-oriented reasons, while the Americans the subjective reasons such as customers-oriented reasons.

This paper might be of some help to further the theoretical researches in literature in the speech act of refusing, as well as to test the refusal hypotheses drawn from interpersonal communications in shopping activities. The originality of this paper lies in its cross-register study of interpersonal communications and shopping activities, besides the cross-cultural study of English and Chinese. It is a pity that the subjects have not included as many individual varieties as possible and it is also hoped that this contrastive study of refusal strategies in shopping activities can be furthered in other languages besides English and Chinese.

　

Key words: contrastive study, interpersonal communications, shopping activities,

 

refusing, strategy, speech act.

　

 

摘要

　

本论文对英汉拒绝言语语用策略进行了对比研究，文中不仅涉及英汉语言文化对比，也涉及跨语域对比，即私人交往拒绝言语与商业购物拒绝言语的对比。

本文语用对比研究以以下两个假设为前提：一、尽管拒绝言语所实施的“拒绝”作用和“拒绝”功能是相似的，由于中美语言文化存在差异，如中国人注重集体，美国人看中个体，因而拒绝言语策略话语实现形式应呈现语言文化差异。二、语域是适应一定交际情景的语言变体。语域变体与交际双方所涉及的特定交际场合、交际模式、交际意图等因素密切相关。商业购物活动不同于私人交往，因此拒绝言语策略话语实现形式应呈现语域差异。

全文共分四章。第一章介绍了对比研究理论的历史及发展，并对国内外主要学者在私人交往中总结出的英汉（日）拒绝策略进行概述，为本论文商业购物英汉拒绝言语对比研究奠定基础。第二章讨论了商业购物拒绝言语策略对比研究项目的目标、调查对象、问卷调查设计及数据的采集和分析，并重点进行跨文化、跨语域的相关对比分析。第三章从总体上对拒绝言语行为的感知、生产、阐釋和归属进行理论探讨。第四章对论文中心要点进行了总结。

拒绝言语的对比研究目前大多局限在私人交往语域中，国内外学者认为中国人拒绝时使用的拒绝策略比较节省，采用“点到为止”策略，以维护人际关系。采用的一般模式是称呼语加道歉语加拒绝理由。美国人则使用“问题关注”策略，可以自由地使用多种策略，重在解决问题。他们常以表示“愿意”的虚拟式开头，然后说明拒绝理由，最后表示道歉。

拒绝言语研究表明：人们在社会交往中为维护自身的公共面子，一般是愿意遵循合作原则和礼貌原则，因为照顾别人的面子就是给自己面子。但在实质上，社会交往涉及合作和对抗间的一种动态磨合。商业购物活动不同于私人交往，人们对“钱物交换”所带来的“惠”、“损”利益更加关注，因此在拒绝言语策略的话语表现上会更节省更直接，一般不会牺牲自己的钱物来照顾别人的面子。中国人习惯使用“暗示语＋ 假赞同 ＋ 拒绝理由”模式，而美国人则用 “（暗示语）不 + 谢谢 + 拒绝理由”； 中国人更多使用以商品、售货员为中心的客观理由，而美国人则更多表达顾客自己不满意的主观理由。

本论文研究有助于深化和丰富目前拒绝言语对比研究的理论及其逻辑实证调查。它的创新之处在于该论文不仅对前人在私人交往中总结出的拒绝假设在商业购物活动中进行跨语言文化论证，而且对私人交往和商业购物中的拒绝言语进行跨语域对比，总结了商业购物活动中中美惯用的拒绝模式及其策略。该论文的不足之处在于中英测试对象不可能囊括方方面面的个体，中英商业拒绝言语总结出的拒绝模式及其策略还有待于在英汉等其它语言中得到进一步的调查和探索。

 

关键字：对比研究、私人交往、商业购物、拒绝、策略、言语行为。