15 Smart and Polite Ways to Say 'I DON'T LIKE' - Do NOT be RUDE in English!

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- Hello, everyone, and welcome back to English With Lucy.

Today, I am going to teach you how to politely say

that you don't like something.

This is really, really hard even for British people,

for native speakers.

So I can only imagine how hard it is for you.

I am going to teach you 15 ways that you can say

I don't like something in a smart and polite way.

Quickly, before we get started,

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Right, let's get started with the lesson.

Number one, the first alternative for "I don't like"

is "I am sick of."

I am sick of, or if you want extra emphasis,

"I am absolutely sick of."

An example, one my mother used to say to me a lot

when I was growing up,

"I am sick of hearing you complain."

"I am absolutely sick of hearing you complain."

I don't like hearing you complain.

Now, whilst this might not seem polite,

"I don't like" is quite direct.

It's quite to the point.

And in British English, especially in our culture,

we don't like to be too direct.

"I am sick of" is still quite intense,

but it's not as direct.

If you want to be a bit less intense,

you could also say number two,

which is "I don't appreciate."

I don't appreciate.

With emphasis, I really don't appreciate.

An example, I really don't appreciate

the way she spoke to me.

This is a much more polite way of saying "I don't like."

The meaning is conveyed very clearly.

We know you mean that you don't like it,

but I don't appreciate is a much more

high brow way of saying it.

Number three, back to being intense.

I can't stand.

I cannot stand.

An example, I can't stand people who don't know

how to queue properly.

(laughs) This is true.

I can't stand people that push into queues.

Oh my, oh my word. (laughs)

I've spoken many times about how much I love a good queue.

I've never quite got my head around the fact

that every time I join a queue, I'm always at the end.

So depressing, isn't it?

Number four, another less intense version is

"I'm not fond of."

This is really quite polite.

"I'm really not fond of" whatever you don't like.

And this means that it's not that I dislike it,

it's just that I don't love it.

(laughs) Exactly the same thing but sounds better.

An example, I'm not fond of dancing, but I'll give it a go.

To give something a go is to try something

or attempt something.

It's a much nicer way of saying,

"I don't like."

Another one that is very similar, number five, is

"I'm not a fan of" or "I'm not a big fan of."

I'm not a big fan of.

So remember, I'm not fond of.

I'm not a fan of.

We need the article there.

I'm not a big fan of early starts.

I'm not a big fan of early starts.

This means getting up early in the morning.

Now, number six is quite similar to the previous two,

but a lot of students make mistakes with it.

It is "I'm not keen on."

Now, the previous two had the of preposition.

We have on.

Fond of, fan of, keen on.

If you'll remember these three phrases,

then it will look very good in the exams

if you use them correctly.

I'm not keen on, or if you want emphasis,

I'm not so keen on.

And, actually, that isn't really emphasis.

That almost reduces the phrase further.

I'm not keen on, I'm not so keen on, I'm not very keen on.

An example, I'm not so keen on her new boyfriend.

Meaning, I don't like her new boyfriend,

but I don't want to say that,

so I'm going to say, "I'm not so keen on him."

Now, the previous three were very, very polite,

but let's go back to some more intense ones.

Number seven, I can't bear.

"I cannot bear" something.

This means that you really don't like something.

It's very, very similar to I can't stand.

An example, I can't bear the way Tony speaks to his wife.

I don't like it, I cannot stand it, it's terrible.

This means that you just cannot put up with it.

You can't endure it.

Now, number eight is an interesting one.

It is "I've had enough of."

"I've had enough of" something.

So, you're not directly saying, "I don't like something."

It's just, you've reached your limit

of being able to accept something.

For example, I've had enough of scam phone calls.

I could take it up to a certain point,

but now it's overstepped the mark,

and I've had enough.

That's very British.

I'm sure lots of British children have heard

their parents say that they've had enough

of our behaviour. (laughs)

Now, back to a really polite one, number nine.

If someone is asking you to do something,

but it's not your thing.

You don't like what they're offering

or what they're asking you to do,

you can say, "I'm not into" or "I'm really not into."

"It's not my thing" is what you're saying.

An example, "Sorry, I'm really not into that type of music."

I don't want to say,

"I don't like the music that you're playing."

But I'm not into it.

"It's not my thing" is quite a nice thing to say.

Another more polite one is number 10.

"I'll pass on" or "I think I'll pass on."

An example, "I think I'll pass on visiting Grandma

"after she was so rude to me last time."

I'll pass on that.

I don't want to do it.

It's not literally, "I don't like."

It means, "I don't want to do" something.

I think I'll just avoid doing that.

You're implying that you don't want to do something,

that you don't like doing it,

so I have included it in the list.

Number 11, a very British one,

I think this was in one of my first ever

common British expressions video.

It's "It's not my cup of tea."

It's not my cup of tea.

Again, another way of saying,

it's not my thing, I'm not into that.

An example, "Thanks for the invite,

"but ice skating really isn't my cup of tea."

This is actually what my fiancé said

when we were dating.

I invited him ice skating, and he, at six foot, six (laughs)

told me it wasn't his cup of tea.

When actually it's because he'd been before,

and he looked like a baby giraffe,

with just limbs everywhere.

I would pay good money to see that,

but I wouldn't want the osteopath bill.

Okay, this one is brilliant.

I love this one.

I hope you have the confidence to use this one.

It is, "It doesn't tickle my fancy."

It really doesn't tickle my fancy.

Ah, it's brilliant.

It's the same as "It's not my cup of tea,

"It's not my thing."

An example, going on a double date with my ex-boyfriend

and his new supermodel girlfriend really doesn't

tickle my fancy.

Number 13, if you don't want to use tickle my fancy,

you can just say, "It's not for me."

Not for me.

An example, sorry, I just think that the knitting club

isn't for me.

I'm really sorry.

Number 14, a very nice way.

I'd say it's maybe slightly more American

than it is British.

I'm not crazy about.

I'm just not crazy about.

I'm not crazy about golf, but I'll come along all the same.

I don't love golf, I really don't like golf, actually,

but I will come along anyway.

"All the same" is the same as "anyway."

And number 15, this is quite a good one

if you want to offer an alternative.

If you don't like something

and you would prefer to do something else

it is "I'm more of a (hums) person."

For example, I don't think I'll come

to the dog shelter with you.

I'm more of a cat person.

I think that's quite a nice way of saying,

"I don't like something."

I don't want to do it,

but I would be up for doing something else.

Right, that is it for today's lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it,

and I hope you learnt something.

You have homework.

Don't try and leave the class now.

You have homework.

Your homework is to create five sentences

with these alternatives,

or if you want to be top of the class

find even more alternatives to "I don't like"

and use them in sentences below.

We could all learn from each other.

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Some of you find it interesting.

Some of you will definitely consider it

to be not your cup of tea.

Ah, see what I did there?

But it's there if you want it.

I will see you soon for another lesson, mwah.

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