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Session 1
Listen to find out how to say no to invitations politely.
ከመይ ጌርኩም ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ ብትሕትና ኣይፋል ከም እትብሉ ስምዑ።
Activity 1
How do I say no politely?
Listen to find out how to say no to invitations politely.
ከመይ ጌርኩም ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ ብትሕትና ኣይፋል ከም እትብሉ ስምዑ።
ነቲ መልስታትካ ንምግምጋም ስማዕ። ብድሕርዚ ምስቲ ኣብ ታሕቲ ዘሎ ጽሑፍ ኣወዳድሮ።

ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ሰላም፣ እንቋዕ ናብ መደብ How do I… ብድሓን መጻእኩም። ኣነ ተክልማርያም በኪት ኢየ፡ ምሳና’ውን ሾን ኣላ።
Sian
Hi, everybody!
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ኣብዚ መደብ፡ ከመይ ጌርኩም ብዝተፈላለዩ መገድታት ብትሕትና ኣይፋል ክትብሉ ከም እትኽእሉ ክንርኢ ኢና።
መጀመርያ ንፊል ጽባሕ ምስኡ ቡን ክሰቲ ንዝሓተቶ ንስማዕ። እንተዘይተረዲኡኩም ኣይትሸገሩ፤ ድሓር ክንሕግዘኩም ኢና። ንሕጂ፡ ግን ክንደይ ሰባት ‘ሕራይ’ ከም ዝብሉ ወስኑ።
Do you want to come for coffee with me tomorrow morning?
• I'd love to, but I'm meeting a friend then.
• I'd like to, but I'm really busy.
• Ah sorry, but I have to work.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
Did you understand? Nobody said yes. Poor Phil! So, Sian, shall we look at the language we can use to say 'no' politely?
Sian
I’d like to, but I'm really busy! No, I'm just joking! Of course!
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
Very funny, Sian! ሕጂ እቲ ናይ መጀመርያ ተዛራቢ 'I'd love to' ኢሉ፡ ወላ እኳ ብእወታ እንተመሰለ፡ ቅድሚ ኣይፋል ምባልኩም ከምኡ ምባል ልሙድ ኢዩ። ደጊምና ንስማዓዮ።
I'd love to, but I'm meeting a friend then.
Sian
So we often start by saying 'I'd love to, but…' or 'I'd like to, but…' and then we give a reason why we can't accept the invitation. So if you hear 'but' and a reason you know that the person is saying 'no'.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
እብዚ እቲ ኣደማምጻ ኣገዳሲ ኢዩ። እቲ ሰብ ኣይፋል ክብል ምዃኑ እውን ካብቲ ቃንኡ ክትፈልጦ ትኽእል?
Sian
Exactly, so let's practise. Repeat after me and pay attention to the tone.
I'd love to, but…
I'd like to, but…
You can also just say 'I'm sorry but...'
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ብሓፈሻ ስለ ምንታይ ከም ዘይንቅበሎ ምኽንያት ምሃብ ኣገዳሲ ኢዩ፡ ኣይኮነን እንድዩ?
Sian
That's right. Can you remember any of the reasons they gave? Let's listen to the three reasons again.
I'm meeting a friend.
I'm busy then.
I have to work.
Sian
So the first person said 'I'm meeting a friend' – it's very common to use the present continuous to give your reason. For example, you can say 'I'd love to, but I'm going to the cinema'.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
እወ፤ ኣብ ውሱናትን ርግጽ ዝኾነ መደባትን ናይ ህሉው ቀጻሊ ግሲ ንጥቀም።
ምኽንያት እንተ ዘይብልኩም ከኣ ስራሕ ኣለና ክትብሉ ትኽእሉ 'I'm busy then…'
Sian
Yes, but that can seem rude so it's better to give a reason if you can.
The last person used 'I have to' so if you have an obligation you can use this form to give your reason. Let's practise that. Repeat after me.
I have to work.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ሕጂ: ኩሉ ኣገባብ ናይ ኣይፋል ምባል ተማሂርኩም፣ ስለዝኾነ ልምምድ እንገብረሉ እዋን በጺሑ።
First listen to this question:
Would you like to come to dinner tonight?
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ሕራይ፡ ኣብ ትያትር ስለእትኸይድ ኣይከኣልን ኢዩ። ምፈተኹ” ዝብል ናይ ትሕትና ቃል ብምጥቃምን ምኽንያት ብምሃብን ንምልስ።
ጸኒሕኩም ከኣ መልሲ ካብ ሾን ብምስማዕ ከተወዳድርዎ ኢኹም።
Sian
I'd love to, but I'm going to the theatre.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ተመሳሲሊ ‘ዩ’ዶ ኢልኩም? ሕጂ ነዚ ዕድመ ስምዕዎ።
Would you like to come to the beach tomorrow?
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ጽባሕ ትምህርቲ ስለዘለኩም ብትሕትና ‘ኣይፋል’ በሉ። ድሒር ሾን እትህቦ መልስታት ብምስማዕ ድማ ከተወዳድርዎ ኢኹም።
Sian
I'd like to, but I have to study.
I'm sorry, but I have to study.
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
ተመሳሳሊ’ዶ ኢልኩም?
Sian
Well done! Now we've finished this programme, do you want to come for lunch with me?
ኣቕራቢ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ
Ah I'd love to Sian, but I'm really busy!
Sian
Oh, OK! Bye, everybody!
Learn more!
1) ንዝተገብረልካ ዕድመ ብምቕሉል ኣገባብ ኣይፋል እትብለሎም ልሙዳት ኣበሃህላታት እንታይ እዮም።
ገለ ካብቶም ልሙዳት ኣገባብ ኣጀማምራ እምቢታትእዞም ዝስዕቡ ኢዮም።
- I'd love to, but…
- I'd like to, but…
- I'm sorry, but…
2) ንዝኾነ ዕድመ ኣብ ዘይትቕበሉሉ ግዜ ምኽንያት ምሃብ ኣገዳሲ ድዩ፧
ኣገዳሲ እኳ እንተዘይኮነ፡ ብሓፈሻ ናብቲ ዕድመ ንከይትኸዱ ዝገብረኩም ምኽንያት ምንጋርን ምግላጹን ግን ትሕትና የመልክት።
3) ምኽንያት ክህበሉ እኽእል እየ ንምባል እትጥቀመሉ ካልእ ኣበሃህላ እንታይ ኣሎ?
ነቲ እትገብሮ ነገር ከኣ ብናይ ቀጻሊ ግዚያት ክትገልጽዎ ትኽእሉ።
- I'd love to, but I'm going out for dinner.
ካልእ ግዴታታት ምስዝህልወኩም ከኣ 'have to' ክትጥቀመሉ ትኽእሉ፡
- I'm sorry, but I have to clean my house!
ወይ ከኣ ስራሕ ኣለኒ 'I'm busy' ክትብሉ ትኽእሉ።
- I'd like to, but I'm busy.
ከመይ ጌረ ብትሕትና ኣይፋለይን እብል?
4 Questions
Complete the gaps in these ways to say no to an invitation.
ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ፡ ኣይፋል ንምባል በዚ ዝስዕቡ ኣገባባት ነዘን ዝስዕባ ጎደሎታት ምልኡወን።
Help
Activity
Complete the gaps in these ways to say no to an invitation.
ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ፡ ኣይፋል ንምባል በዚ ዝስዕቡ ኣገባባት ነዘን ዝስዕባ ጎደሎታት ምልኡወን።
Hint
'I'd like to…' ምባል እውን ትኽእሉQuestion 1 of 4
Help
Activity
Complete the gaps in these ways to say no to an invitation.
ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ፡ ኣይፋል ንምባል በዚ ዝስዕቡ ኣገባባት ነዘን ዝስዕባ ጎደሎታት ምልኡወን።
Hint
ኣብ መዝገብ መዘኻኸሪ ኣብ ዝርከቡ ውሱን ኣሰራርዓ ንምዝራብ እንታይ ዓይነት ግዝያት ንጥቀም፧Question 2 of 4
Help
Activity
Complete the gaps in these ways to say no to an invitation.
ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ፡ ኣይፋል ንምባል በዚ ዝስዕቡ ኣገባባት ነዘን ዝስዕባ ጎደሎታት ምልኡወን።
Hint
ን'I'm' ኣየናይ ቃል ክስዕቦ ይኽእል፧Question 3 of 4
Help
Activity
Complete the gaps in these ways to say no to an invitation.
ንዝተገብረልኩም ዕድመ፡ ኣይፋል ንምባል በዚ ዝስዕቡ ኣገባባት ነዘን ዝስዕባ ጎደሎታት ምልኡወን።
Hint
ግዴታ እንተኾይኑ፡ እንታይ ዓይነት ቅርጺ ክንጥቀም ንኽእል፧Question 4 of 4
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ኣብ ዝቕጽል How do I…, መደብና ማለት ብዙሕ ጠቓሚ ቋንቋ እንመሃረሉን ናይ ምስማዕ ብቕዓትኩም ትለማመዱሉን የራኽበና።