How to Accept or Decline Invitations in French

If a French speaker has invited to you to attend a special event or party, and you would like to respond to her invitation in French, there are several key phrases you could use to either accept or decline the invitation.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Say, "Avec plaisir" to tell someone that you would love to go to the event or party that he invited to you to attend. You can also say, "D'accord," which means "OK" if you're speaking to a close friend or if you'd like to accept the invitation in a less formal manner.

2. Respond by saying, "Peut-être," if you want to say, "Maybe." If you're not sure yet if you can make it, you can also answer, "Je ne sais pas encore," which means, "I don't know yet."

3. Answer, "Je ne peux pas" to say that you can't come. To make it more polite, add, "Je suis désolé," which means, "I'm sorry," to your response.

4. Tell the person who invited you, "Je suis désolé, mais j'ai déjà quelque chose de prévu" to tell her, "I'm sorry, but I already have something going on."

Tips & Warnings

• To work on the pronunciation of these phrases, listen to a French instructional CD and repeat the phrases many times until you are pronouncing them correctly without the help of the CD. You could also ask a French person or a French instructor to pronounce the phrases for you so that you can hear and practice the correct pronunciation.

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