How to INVITE in English: Daily life English lesson

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  

You're invited to a party. Let's talk about it. Vanessa: 

Oh, hey, are you free this weekend? We're going  to have a party and I would love to hang out.  

Huh? We're free. We don't cost anything.  I want to hang out. Are we monkeys?  

No. If you've ever been invited to a party in  English, well, you've probably heard these words  

before, but can you use them yourself? Do you know  how they're used in real English conversations.  

Well, never fear. Today, I would like  to bring you in to a moment where I  

invite two of my friends to my son's birthday  party. You're going to see me give them a call,  

invite them to his birthday party. And you're  going to hear someone say no, and someone say yes,  

and some of the important daily expressions  that we use when declining an invitation and  

when accepting an invitation. Like always, I've  created a free PDF worksheet with all of today's  

expressions, ideas, sample sentences. And you can  answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom  

of the free PDF worksheet. So click on the link in  the description to download that worksheet today.  

Never forget what you are about to learn. Vanessa: 

Let's start by watching the clip  of me inviting my brother-in-law,  

Ben, to my son's birthday party. You're going to  see me give him a call. You're going to hear his  

responses and we're going to go over it expression  by expression so that you can speak like this too.  

All right. Let's watch the first clip and then  I'll talk about it. Let's watch. All right. Let's  

call Ben and see if he can come. Ben: 

Hello? Vanessa: 

Hi, Ben. This is Vanessa. Ben: 

Oh, hey, Vanessa. Vanessa: 

Hey, I was just calling because I was wondering  if, by any chance, you are free on Saturday. We're  

having a little birthday party for Freddie. Ben: 

Oh, Freddie's birthday party. Yeah, let me check  my schedule. Yeah, I think we're free. I can bring  

the whole family. Vanessa: 

You just heard me say, "I was wondering if by  any chance, are you free on Saturday?" Here I'm  

using a couple expressions to make this a little  bit softer. "I was wondering if by any chance,  

are you free on Saturday?" I didn't say,  "Hey, are you free on Saturday?" I could  

have said this. It would be direct. It would  be fine. He's my brother-in-law. This is not  

a professional invitation. This is  just inviting someone from my family.  

But instead I decided to make it a little bit  more indirect. "I was wondering if by any chance,  

are you free on Saturday?" Let's see how we  can use by any chance in another context. 

Vanessa: By any chance,  

can I borrow $10? I forgot my wallet. So you're  probably assuming that the other person has  

$10 that you can borrow, but you want to be  polite. You're a little bit hesitant to ask and  

you want to just be kind about it. By any chance,  can I borrow $10? I forgot my wallet. Thank you. 

Vanessa: And next you heard Ben say this,  

"Let me check my schedule." This is extremely  common and it's pretty straightforward. So you can  

just copy and paste this into your own vocabulary.  If someone invites you to a coffee shop with them,  

you could say, "Oh, I'd love to have  coffee with you. Let me check my schedule,  

but I think I am free tomorrow." Though you  still want to check, but you kind of think,  

"I'll probably be available. Let me check my  schedule, but I think I will be free tomorrow."  

You just heard me use the word free. And that's  also what Ben used. He said, "I think we're free."  

This is not talking about payment. You might say  that item costs $5 and that item is free. This  

is not what we're talking about. We're talking  about available. I'm available, it's kind of a  

professional way to say this, but you can just say  it in daily conversation. I'm free. I'm available. 

Vanessa: Let's watch the next  

clip of my phone conversation where you're going  to hear three lovely expressions. Let's watch. 

Vanessa: Oh, great. Well, it's going to be  

in the morning. I thought before nap time would  probably be best. So it'll be 10:30 to noon-ish.  

We'll probably have some lunch at the end. Ben: 

Okay, that sounds great. We're open  the whole day, so we'll be there. 

Vanessa: When I was telling Ben the time of the party,  

I said it'll be 10:30 to noon-ish. This little  add-on, ish, is common in daily conversation  

when we're talking about something approximate.  You might say, "That shirt is red-ish." Maybe  

it's kind of pink. Maybe it's kind of a slightly  brownish red. It could be somewhere in between.  

It's red-ish, but we often use this for time  as well. The party will end at noon-ish.  

If you want to leave early, it's okay. If you  stay a little longer, it's okay, but this is the  

general time for the party. 10:30 to noon-ish. Vanessa: 

Then Ben said, "We're open the whole day." He's  not talking about a business that's open. You can  

also say this. If you are running a business and  you say, "My shop or my business will be open the  

whole day." That means customers can come and  go, but he's not a business. He's just a guy.  

So he said, "We are open the whole day." That  means we are free. The expression we talked  

about before, or we're available. We have  nothing going on, nothing on the schedule,  

nothing on our calendar. We are free  the whole day. We're open the whole day. 

Vanessa: And then he sealed the deal by saying, "We'll be  

there." Great. This is an affirmative yes. "We'll  be there." It kind of shows also that you're  

committing to this. You're excited about this.  "Oh, I'm so excited that you invited me to  

your wedding. I'll be there. I feel so privileged  that you asked me to be part of that special day.  

I'll be there." A great phrase. Vanessa: 

All right, let's go on to the next clip where  we'll hear some more wonderful expressions and  

then talk about them. Vanessa: 

Cool, cool. And no pressure, you don't need to  bring a present or anything. If you really want  

to, Freddie loves food and snacks. You're welcome  to bring him like a little snack, but no pressure  

to bring presents. We'd just love to see you guys. Ben: 

Okay, that sounds good. I might bring some donuts.  

My favorite donut shop is  down the road, but, you know. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Ben: I won't bring too much. 

Vanessa: Okay, well, more the merrier. And we'll be glad to  

see you. Thanks so much for being able to come. Ben: 

You're welcome. All right, see you later. Vanessa: 

All right. See you Saturday. Bye. Ben: 

Bye. Vanessa: 

In this final clip of our conversation, you  heard three wonderful phrases. You heard us say  

this sentence, "No pressure, you don't need  to bring a present or anything." No pressure.  

Well, if you have ever been a parent who has  been invited to many birthday parties for your  

kids' friends, it can sometimes be a lot of  pressure to choose a present, to always have a  

present ready. And oh, you got invited to a party  that's tomorrow. "Oh, I don't have a present."  

This could be kind of stressful, but really the  most important thing is that you are at the party.  

Your presence is the most important present. So  usually when I invite someone to one of my kids'  

birthday parties, I say this, "Hey, no pressure,  you don't need to bring a present. Just come to  

the party. We'd love to see you." And sometimes  people bring a present still and that's okay,  

but it's not a requirement. No pressure. I  just want you to come and enjoy yourself. 

Vanessa: Sometimes for parties,  

people ask, "Can I bring anything? Would you like  me to bring anything?" Especially if it's like a  

dinner party or something like that. So you might  say, "Oh yes, please bring your own beer." BYOB,  

we say. Or, "Please bring your own lawnchair  because we're going to be sitting on the grass. I  

don't have enough chairs. Just bring a lawnchair."  Something simple like this. So I suggested you're  

welcome to bring him, my son, a little snack or  something. He loves food. So some people feel  

a little bit weird about coming to a birthday  party without a present. So I gave a suggestion,  

bring him a little snack. He loves food. So a  little snack is kind of the perfect present for  

him. He will love it. No pressure. Vanessa: 

The final phrase from my conversation with  Ben is the more the merrier. Usually we use  

this when talking about people. The more people  that are at a party, the merrier or the happier,  

the more joyful it will be. This is the same  expression as Merry Christmas, the merrier it  

will be. But in this conversation, we were talking  about food. Ben suggested bringing some donuts as  

a little gift or something to share with other  people at the party. So we're talking about more  

food. Oh, the more food, the more the merrier.  Feel free to bring it. We'd love to have it. 

Vanessa: Well, it doesn't always go so well  

when you invite someone to a party, sometimes they  can't come. They decline your invitation. We're  

going to be watching a clip where I call my friend  Lauren to invite her to Freddie's birthday party,  

but she can't come. You're going to hear some  different phrases and some polite ways to say,  

"Sorry, I can't come." All right, let's watch the  first clip of my conversation with her. And then  

we'll break it down together. Vanessa: 

All right. We are going to call my friend Lauren  and invite her to Freddie's second birthday party.  

Here goes. Lauren: 

Hello? Vanessa: 

Hi, Lauren. It's Vanessa. Lauren: 

Hi, Vanessa. How are you today? Vanessa: 

Oh, I'm doing well. I have some exciting news.  That, as you know, Freddie's going to be two soon  

and we're going to have a party. Lauren: 

Oh, wonderful. Vanessa: 

Yeah, so I wanted to invite you and  see if you're free. It's going to be on  

Saturday, 10:30 AM till like after lunchtime.  

And yeah, are you free to come? Vanessa: 

In this first clip where I invited Lauren to  Freddie's birthday party, I started off by  

using the expression here goes before I called  her. I don't know about you, but I sometimes  

feel a little bit nervous calling someone on the  phone. It's not because I'm nervous to talk to my  

friend. It's more that when I call them, I don't  want to be interrupting whatever they're doing.  

Nowadays with texting, it feels a little more  serious to give someone a phone call. So I said,  

"Here goes." If you're doing something that you  feel a little bit nervous about, maybe you're  

asking someone on a date, you might say, "Okay,  I'm going to do this. I'm going to ask her on  

a date. Here goes." Oh, you're kind of preparing  yourself to take some kind of risk and trying to  

give yourself some courage. Here goes. Vanessa: 

At the end of this clip, I asked her the question,  "Are you free to come to Freddie's birthday party?  

Are you free to come to Freddie's birthday party?"  This is another way to invite someone to an event.  

And we're using that same word free a lot, because  this is what's most used in daily conversation.  

Are you free to come next Saturday? Are you free  this afternoon? Are you free next month? I was  

thinking we could go to the beach together. Are  you free? What a beautiful phrase. All right,  

let's watch our next clip where you'll  hear some more wonderful phrases. 

Lauren: I would love to, however,  

I will be working during that time. Vanessa: 

Oh. Lauren: 

Yeah. Where I work is open on Saturdays and in  the morning, so unfortunately I'll be working  

at that time. Vanessa: 

Oh. Lauren: 

But I would love to get together with you guys  another time to celebrate Freddie's birthday. 

Vanessa: You heard Lauren decline my invitation. She said,  

"I would love to, however, I'm going to be working  during that time." I would love to, but the moment  

that you hear this phrase, especially that tone of  voice, that kind of sad tone of voice. Oh, I would  

love to, but I'm not free tomorrow afternoon. I  would love to, but I'm really busy this week. I  

would love to, but... This is a really polite  way to decline an invitation. Sometimes when  

we decline an invitation, we want to kind of show  that, "Hey, I still want to see you. I still like  

to hang out with you. So let's make alternative  plans." And that's kind of what you heard Lauren  

suggesting. She said this phrase, "But I would  love to get together with you guys another time.  

I would love to get together another time." This  phrase to get together means just to see each  

other, to hang out, to spend time together. Vanessa: 

If you are trying to decline an invitation,  but you want to create alternative plans,  

you might say, "Hey, yeah, I  would love to hang out tomorrow,  

but I'm busy, but I would love to get together  another time. Are you free on Thursday?" Okay,  

you can solidify another time to see each other. Vanessa: 

I must say that in the US, we sometimes  don't have a great reputation for  

following through. So if someone says, "Oh, I  would love to get together, but I can't, but  

maybe we can get together another time," and they  don't make a specific plan, don't be disappointed  

if they don't follow up and make another plan.  Sometimes we just say this to be polite to show,  

"Hey, I still like you. It's nothing personal. I  just can't come to that event." So sometimes we  

say, "Yeah, let's get together another time.  Maybe over the summer, we can get together."  

And if they never call you, don't worry. It's not  personal. Sometimes this is kind of just part of  

American culture. Vanessa: 

Let's watch the final clip so that you can see  how we conclude our conversation in some more  

wonderful daily English expressions. Let's watch. Vanessa: 

That sounds good. Yeah, I'm sure we'll see you  probably sometime over the next week. And, yeah,  

we can get together and have dinner. I mean,  when you're a kid having multiple birthdays is  

the norm. You celebrate all month. Lauren: 

And also the dream. Vanessa: 

Yeah, that's the dream. We want to keep  celebrating birthdays again, and again, and again.  

Well, sorry you can't come,  but hopefully we'll see you  

next week at some point. Lauren: 

That would be lovely. Vanessa: 

Okay. Well thanks so much. Have a good morning. Lauren: 

Thank you, you guys too. And please  tell Freddie happy birthday from Lauren. 

Vanessa: I will. Thanks so much. Bye. 

Lauren: You're welcome. Bye. 

Vanessa: Oh, what a bummer.  

Well, we see Lauren about once a week, once every  other week. So I'm sure we'll have plenty of time  

to celebrate, but bummer she can't come. To  respond to Lauren I said, "That sounds good.  

That sounds good." This simply means, "I agree. I  think this is a great idea." You can also use this  

in professional situations. If your boss says,  "I'd like you to finish this report by 3:00 PM.  

I know you're really busy. Do you think you can  finish it by 3:00 PM?" You could say, "That sounds  

good. I can do it." This is agreeing and saying,  "Yes, this is something that I would like." 

Vanessa: In this clip you heard me say a really polite  

expression. "Sorry, you can't come. Sorry, you  can't come." I'm not saying, "All right, Lauren  

can't come. I'm excited." No, I want her to know  that I wish she could come, but you know what? Our  

friendship's not over. It's not the end of the  world, but this is a polite thing to say when  

someone declines an invitation. "Sorry you can't  come, we'll miss you. Sorry you can't come..."  

Or the next expression that we're about to talk  about, "But hopefully we'll see you at some  

point next week." At some point. We didn't make  specific plans like, "I will see you on Tuesday."  

Instead, I said at some point. Now, because Lauren  is my close friend, I'm not trying to just say  

something nice. Instead, we will see each other at  some point next week, just over that phone call.  

We didn't make a specific plan. I'm not being the  American stereotype in that situation and pushing  

her off. But this is a polite thing to say, "Hey,  we'll get together at some point. Don't worry  

about it. Enjoy what you've got going on." Vanessa: 

And the final expression I said is, "What a  bummer. Bummer she can't come." This expression,  

what a bummer or just bummer, is a  kind of casual or slang way to say,  

"That's a shame." Now that's a shame is pretty  strong. So in daily conversation for something  

like this, that's kind of light. It's not too  serious. You can say, "Oh, what a bummer. She  

can't come." Let's look at these two phrases  because I want to make sure you can use each of  

these accurately grammatically. What a bummer  that you can't come to Disney World with us.  

Or, bummer that you can't come to Disney World  with us. You can use just the word bummer,  

or you can say what a bummer you can't come  to Disney World with us. We'll miss you. 

Vanessa: So by any chance, did you  

learn how to accept and decline an invitation in  English during today's lesson? I hope so. Don't  

forget to download the free PDF worksheet that  goes with today's lesson so that you can accept  

and decline an invitation in English naturally  and politely. There's a link in the description  

so that you can download the PDF today. Vanessa: 

And now I have a question for you. Are you  free this weekend to come to my son's birthday  

party? Let me know in the comments. You can  accept or decline my invitation and you can  

practice what you've learned today. Well,  thank you so much for learning English with  

me and I'll see you again next Friday for a  new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. 

Vanessa: The next step is  

to download the free PDF worksheet for this  lesson. With this free PDF, you will master  

today's lesson and never forget what you have  learned. You can be a confident English speaker.  

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.