Invitations
French Expressions
There are a number of different ways to extend, accept, and refuse invitations in French, both formally and informally.
| Extending an invitation | ||||
| In the following phrases, ... must be filled in with an infinitive in French, whereas the English might take the infinitive or the gerund, depending on the sentence. | ||||
| Informal | Formal | |||
| Je t'invite à... | I invite you to... | Je vous invite à... | I invite you to... | |
| Tu es libre ? | Are you free? | Êtes-vous libre ? | Are you free? | |
| Tu as envie de...? | Do you feel like...? | Avez-vous envie de... | Do you want to...? | |
| Viens donc... | Come on and... | Venez donc... | Come and... | |
| Ça te dit de...? | How does... sound? | Nous serions très heureux de vous y accueillir (chez nous). | We would be very happy to welcome you (to our home). | |
| Et si on (mange, voit un film, etc.) ? | How about (eating, seeing a movie, |
Vous nous feriez très plaisir si vous pouviez nous consacrer une soirée. | We would be delighted if you could spend an evening with us. | |
| Accepting an invitation | ||||
| D'accord. | OK. | Je vous remercie. | Thank you. | |
| Bonne idée ! | Good idea! | J'accepte avec plaisir. | I'm glad to accept. | |
| Oui, je suis libre. | Yes, I'm free. | Cela me ferait grand plaisir. | I would be delighted. | |
| Ça va être sympa ! | That'll be nice! | C'est gentil (de votre part). | That's kind (of you). | |
| Ça va être génial ! | That'll be cool! | Je viendrai avec plaisir. | I will be glad to come. | |
| Declining an invitation | ||||
| Désolé, mais... | I'm sorry, but... | Je suis pris. | I'm otherwise engaged. | |
| C'est dommage, mais... | It's too bad, but... | C'est gentil, mais... | That's kind, but... | |
| Je ne suis pas libre. | I'm not free | Je ne peux pas me libérer. | I'm unavoidably busy. | |
| Je suis occupé. | I'm busy. | J'ai quelque chose de prévu. | I have something planned. | |
| Je ne peux pas. | I can't. | Je me vois malheureusement obligé de refuser. | Unfortunately, I'm obliged to decline. | |
| French vocabulary related to invitations | ||||
| inviter | to invite | |||
| accepter (avec plaisir) | to (gladly) accept | |||
| refuser | to decline | |||
| accueillir | to welcome | |||
| une invitation | invitation | |||
| Infinitive Grammar Glossary |
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