Exercise 7: More Refusal Strategies

In previous exercises, we have learned some of the refusal strategies commonly used by native speakers of Japanese. Some examples are: giving a reason, presenting an alternative, and promising future acceptance. We have also looked at some linguistic strategies, such as typical expressions for giving generic reasons and for declining offers, and the use of incomplete sentences.

This exercise will review these strategies and introduce still others that are commonly used.

As you read the description of each strategy on the right, think of some expressions that you could say using that strategy. Then, listen and read the examples on the left and match them with the most suitable descriptions for these strategies on the left.

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