Many times you were probably in a situation when you had to refuse something, say “no” in a polite way.

Today I will try to give you some examples of refusal in a different situations you may find yourself in Poland.

Shopping at the store, when you are approached by the sales representative asking if she/he can help you with anything, sometimes you just feel like just looking around and you do not help…What do you say then?

Nie, dziękuję – no, thank you

Narazie tylko się rozglądam – I’m just browsing right now

Dam pani/panu znać, jeśli będę potrzebować pomocy – I will let you (polite form pani(f)/panu (m)) know if I need help

Nie dziękuję, nie potrzebuję pomocy – No thank you, I do not need help

If you are purchasing something and sales person will ask you about additional insurance, you may use these phrases:

Nie, dziękuję, nie potrzebuję dodatkowego ubezpieczenia/gwarancji – No, thank you, I do not need additional insurance/warranty

Wezmę tylko podstawową gwarancję – I will take only basic warranty

While walking  in public, you may be approached by a person doing gallup poll (ankieta) for some company. You may not feel like talking to anyone, so you can just simply say:

Nie, dziękuję – no, thank you

Dziękuję, ale nie jestem zainteresowana (f)/zainteresowany (m) – Thank you, but I’m not interested

Well, there are a lot of homeless people everywhere in the world. Probably everywhere, while you walking ,you may see a person like this begging for money. In this case decision is yours. But if you want to refuse, just say:

Proszę zostawić mnie w spokoju – please leave me alone

Another situation is when you want to refuse someone who is trying to invite you on a date:

Dziękuję, ale nie jestem zainteresowana (f)/zainteresowany (m) – Thank you, I’m not interested

Jestem zajęta (f)/zajęty (m) – I’m taken

Mam chłopaka/dziewczynę – I have a boyfriend/girlfriend

Mój mąż nie byłby szczęśliwy z tego powodu – My husband would not be happy about it

Moja żona nie byłaby szczęśliwa z tego powodu – My wife would not be happy about it

…and hopefully they get it!

If there are other situations you may think of and I missed them, please let me know in comments below.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)