It's one of the first things we learn.

However, being British, I'm aware of many different ways of saying No, it's part of our culture to make things sound, less negative, less aggressive.

You'll find British people changing the way we say no.

So we'll use different words to kind of soften the way that we say No, and that's what I'm here to talk to you about today.

Hopefully, by the end of this lesson, you'll have some alternative ways off declining people saying no by both sounding formal, informal, relaxed and perhaps a little bit mawr like a native with my pronunciation tips.

So let's G Oh, no.

Well, this is actually quite easy to pronounce.

We have the sound at the beginning where we just push the tongue against the top of the mouth and make the sound through our nose.

No, no.

We then have what we call a defeat on Oh, which is when we combine two vowels together.

I've talked about this many times on my channel.

Now, in this word.

Oh, so we're moving the mouth between two sounds the first thing I'd like to mention is that we can actually say the word no in many different ways, with different tones on this will actually completely change the meaning off the No, for example, I could say no, it's a way of showing that you're kind of shocked and you don't believe what the person is saying.

It's like a reaction.

No, it's a bit like saying, Really, no.

However, I'm not here today to talk about the different tones we can use to create different meanings that's a little bit more complex.

And we need to go a bit more into detail for that.

Which is why it's in my course, which you can find in the description below.

How about we add a peep sound onto the end of the word?

No.

It then becomes Nope, nope, nope.

This is just a different way of saying no.

Do you want to go to the cinema later?

Nope.

I think I'll stay home tonight.

My personal favorite.

Nah.

So what I'm doing here is just pronouncing the end.

And then I'm pushing my tongue forwards and down and doing an ah sound, but I'm making it a bit longer?

Nah, nah.

And it is used in different parts of the world as well.

But I do find this this way of saying no tends to be quite British.

Someone might say to me, Elliot, did I see you earlier in the city center?

Now I've bean at home all day.

Nah, I've bean at home all day.

Or is this yours?

Nah, I'm alright.

Thanks.

Or I'm good.

Thanks.

It's this kind of way that US British like to make no less negative.

So, you know, if somebody offers you something like, would you like my last slice of pizza?

You could, of course, be a bit more aggressive and just say no, which is fine, but it does sound a bit aggressive.

You could just say no, I'm all right.

Thanks.

Or I'm good.

Thanks.

This is what we would call softening the blow.

We're not declining them in such aggressive way.

Sometimes no Consume a bit blunt, A bit harsh.

So if we just say I'm good, thanks or I'm alright.

Thanks.

It just sounds a bit friendlier.

Let's say someone has offered you something or asked you if you want to do something with, um Let's say your friend has invited you to go to a theme park for the day instead of saying No, I don't want to come.

You could say, I'll pass.

I'll pass that You could even say I'll leave it now.

I'll leave it this time That word pass pass.

We're doing something different with the tongue.

We're pushing it down, but we're pulling it back more towards the back of the mouth.

Opening the mouth nice and big are pass pass.

Now, in some other British accents you might hear pass, so either is fine.

But if you're looking for a modern RP accent pass are now you know when you're looking in a shop, maybe you've been looking at some clothes, or maybe you're looking at a camera.

The salesman is kind of gathered a few cameras that you're looking at in your deciding or you know, this one has this.

This one has this Which one's better.

Maybe you need some time to think about it.

Or maybe you just want to get away.

The salesman has has plunged deep into the sales process and you need on escape route, but you want to sound polite or you could just say, I'll leave it for now.

I'll leave it for now.

Basically, no, But maybe I'll come back.

We can discuss again.

So it's a bit like saying no for now, Maybe later.

It's a bit like saying not now.

No, not now.

Now, if we want to go a bit more extreme, we want to really emphasize than know.

How about no way?

No way.

No way.

That's like saying, definitely not.

Definitely not.

So take a look at the pronunciation of the word.

Definitely.

This is one of those words that confuses a lot of my students.

So we have death it Nut Lee Death?

Yeah, Nut Lee, definitely.

You technically don't have to pronounce that T you could just say definitely.

However, you need to know how to use the glass.

It'll t So I'm not saying deaf in early.

I'm saying deaf in Nutley.

Instead of saying on just removing the t, I'm cutting the sound out.

So it's death?

No, Uh, imagine you're really tightening your throat on that vowel.

It's like you've caught the t in your throat and you can't push it out is trapped in your throat.

Death in Lee.

It's kind of hard to explain without diagrams and white boards, so no way.

Definitely not.

Or some people may find this offensive.

So do be careful.

But you could say Hell, no.

Hell, no.

This is more American.

However, we do use it here in the UK.

Hell, no, again.

It's just unexamined, aerated way of saying no, it's pushing it, making it sound more aggressive.

Now, once the most famous British way of saying no, the typical British way of saying no, let me put you in a situation.

So my friend says to me, Hey, Elliot, I'm having a party later.

Do you wanna join?

Um, yeah, sure.

I might see you there, or Yeah, maybe.

Maybe so.

This kind of friendly way of saying maybe, Or I might see you there or Yeah, I might be there.

Usually it just means No, I'm not gonna be there.

No, no.

It's for those kinds of people who find it very hard to say no very hard to let people down.

People like me, I do this quite a lot.

I'm not afraid to admit it.

There are occasions where I do se or maybe and then I just don't g o.

It's kind of like saying my heart's there.

You know, I'd love to go, but I'm not going.

And that's about it for today's lesson.

So hopefully you learn a few alternative words for no.

You also learn a bit of pronunciation on duh.

If you want to learn more pronunciation with me, you're looking to maybe work towards a British accent, and I can help you with that.

It's my job.

I'm a pronunciation teacher on I have a pronunciation course, which you conjoined with the link below.

E.

T j english dot com where you'll see detailed lessons.

You have downloadable files.

Homework.

Andi, direct contact with me whenever you want on WhatsApp or WECHAT with voice messaging.

And, of course, if you haven't already, if you're new here, feel free to subscribe to the channel on.

Please give me a big thumbs up if you enjoyed the lesson.

Cheers, guys, I'll see you soon.