Learn how to refuse an offer
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| Refusing in Mexican Spanish |
| This lesson will teach you how to refuse in Spanish. There are many situations in our daily life when we want to refuse, especially when we do not like or want something. Other than that , Mexican people consider refusing as a form of being polite, in which case refusing becomes a good manner. |
| In Spanish, “No thank you” is: |
| No, gracias. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) No, gra-ci-as. |
| Once more: |
| No, gracias. |
| The first word no means “no” |
| (slow) no |
| no |
| After that comes gracias which means “thank you”. |
| (slow) gra-ci-as. |
| Gracias. |
| Let’s hear the expression again: |
| (slow) No, gra-ci-as. |
| No, gracias. |
| This expression is the equivalent of “No, thank you!” and it is used in the same situations as in English. |
| Let’s say you want to emphasize that you appreciate the offer, but you have to refuse it. You can use the word muchas between no and gracias, forming the phrase No, muchas gracias. It literally means “No, thank you very much”. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) No, mu-chas gra-ci-as. |
| Once more: |
| No, muchas gracias. |
| When you feel that what was offered to you is too much, say Es demasiado. |
| Let’s hear that again: |
| (slow) Es de-ma-si-a-do. |
| Es demasiado. |
| In this sentence, the word es is a form of the verb that means “to be”. |
| (slow) es. |
| Es. |
| Next we have demasiado which is translated as “too much”. |
| (slow) De-ma-si-a-do. |
| Demasiado. |
| Let’s hear the phrase one more time. |
| (slow) Es de-ma-si-a-do. |
| Es demasiado. |
| The translation is “It is too much”. |
| A combination between the two expressions we just covered is also possible - No gracias, es demasiado. |
| During your stay in Mexico, you may be invited to a person’s house. In most cases, you will be offered food. There is a custom in Mexico to offer more food when the guest finishes eating everything that is on his or her plate. In that case, you may politely refuse using the phrase, No gracias, estoy satisfecho which means "No thank you, I am satisfied". |
| "No gracias, estoy satisfecho" |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) No gra-ci-as, es-toy sa-tis-fe-cho. |
| Once more: |
| No gracias, estoy satisfecho. |
| In this sentence No gracias means “no thank you”. |
| Estoy means “I am”. |
| (slow) Es-toy. |
| Estoy. |
| Satisfecho is an adjective that means “satisfied”. |
| (slow) sa-tis-fe-cho. |
| Satisfecho. |
| One more time. |
| (slow) No gra-ci-as, es-toy sa-tis-fe-cho. |
| No gracias, estoy satisfecho. |
| “No thank you, I am satisfied.” |
| To close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !buena suerte! which means “Good luck!” in Spanish. |
| “No, thank you.” |
| (3 sec) No, gracias. |
| (slow) No, gra-ci-as. |
| No, gracias. |
| “No, thank you very much.” |
| (3 sec) No, muchas gracias. |
| (slow) No, mu-chas gra-ci-as. |
| No, muchas gracias. |
| “It is too much.” |
| (3 sec) Es demasiado. |
| (slow) Es de-ma-si-a-do. |
| Es demasiado. |
| “No thank you, I am satisfied” |
| (3 sec) No gracias, estoy satisfecho. |
| (slow) No gra-ci-as, es-toy sa-tis-fe-cho. |
| No gracias estoy satisfecho. |
| Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego. |
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