Different & Better Ways To Say "I DON'T LIKE IT!" | Say this Instead!

Well hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish and

today I'm going to share some different,

some more appropriate ways of saying that you don't

like something. Now of course, it's okay to say "I don't like it"

It's simple, it's direct and it communicates your message clearly

but there are lots of different situations where

that might sound a little rude or a little too direct.

You might also be interested in learning more natural

everyday expressions that native English speakers use

when they don't like something.

If that sounds like you, you're in the right place

because I'm sharing twenty alternatives to I don't like it

so that you can communicate clearly

and effectively and naturally in English

so let's get into the lesson!

"I don't like it" is obviously a negative thing

but today we're going to talk about a whole bunch

of different ways that you can express that same

negative idea in English and I've got some really

casual, informal expressions and some idioms to share with you,

ones that I use all the time

instead of saying "I don't like it"

along with some more formal, maybe more polite ways of saying

that you dislike something.

Most of the time when we say "I don't like it" we don't

mean to offend anyone, we need to say it politely, right?

But then there's times when you're chatting with your friends  

you know people that you're close to or really comfortable with

and you might want to be a little more direct

or honest about your feelings.

I know you know what I mean.

So I'm going to include this little dial on screen with

each expression we go through to help you understand

how intense the meaning is. You know sometimes we just want to

hint that we don't like something

but other times we want to be super clear,

we want to emphasise how much we really, really, really

don't like the idea.

So this little dial is going to show you how intense the meaning is

in each of these expressions so that you can choose one

that's most appropriate for the situation.

So let's look at "I don't like" something.

It could be food, it could be music, any activity but not people.

I'm really deliberately highlighting this because

not all of the expressions that I'm gonna go through now

can be used in every context okay?

The ones that I'm sharing first are usually used

when we're talking about things, not people.

So think of this simple question

"Do you like Thai food?"

It's not my favourite.

Now this is a bit of a cheeky response.

I'm not saying I don't like it but I'm implying that I don't like it by

avoiding the question

and this is something that I do all the time when I don't want to

hurt someone's feelings.

I might say:

It's not my favourite, there are other things that I like more.

I could also say

It's not my thing.

And that might seem like a really odd response here, usually

when we say that's not my thing, we're talking about something,

a notebook or a pen. We're saying I don't own it, it's not mine.

However when it's used as a fixed expression in this context

it's an informal but still quite a polite way of saying

that you don't like something.

Do you want to join our cycling club?

Cycling's not really my thing.

We can also just say "I'm not into it"

I'm not into something.

I'm not into Thai food or I'm not into contact sports.

I'm not into Christmas.

So what about those times when you want to

respond a little more respectfully?

I've got a few different options to share here

and it really helps if you think about a situation

where you might need to show respect with your answer.

So imagine this situation. You're invited to a friend's house

and they introduce you to a friend of theirs, a Thai friend

and you're chatting away having a good time

and then they ask you:

Do you like Thai food?

and you think not really.

By the way, this is just an example.

I love Thai food. It's just an example.

So in this situation, you can take my trick from before

and respond by talking about what you do like instead

so you kind of dodge the question a little

so you could answer by saying

I prefer Italian food.

To be honest, I d rather eat Japanese food when I go out.

Even more formal or more polite again is to simply respond

by saying

"It's not to my taste"

You know especially when you're talking about food

or you're talking about style then you can say  

it's not to my taste.

Do you want to come to the Tame Impala concert with me?

So you could say:

Nah I don't like them

but you could also choose your words a little more carefully

and you could say

"I'm not really a fan of them"

I'm not a fan of something.

I'm not a fan of Tame Impala.

This expression works really well for bands and for music

and movies, things like that but it can also

be used in lots of different contexts just to mean I don't like it.

I'm not a big fan of strawberries.

Or I'm not a fan of queuing at restaurants.

So what if someone's suggesting an idea?

They obviously really like this idea but you don't.

There's some great idioms that you can use in this situation.

You can say that

I'm not crazy about it.

I'm not crazy about this idea.

Most of the time when we're using this expression,

we're using it to say that we don't like an idea or maybe

a suggestion that someone's had.

I'm not crazy about the idea of driving through the night

for fifteen hours.

Do you want to wake up at 5am on Sunday

and go for a ten kilometre run?

I'd rather not, I don't like that idea.

I'd rather sleep in on my Sunday morning right?

It's the only day of the week where I get to do it.

So I'm using I'd rather, again just as a more polite and more indirect

way of saying

no I would not like to do that.

When we're talking about an activity that we don't like then we can

also use this great idiom to say that it's not our cup of tea

you know.

Getting up early and going for a run on a Sunday morning

is not my cup of tea.

All right here's your first piece of homework.

Has anyone ever made a suggestion to you that you just

didn't like the sound of?

Let's spend our holidays doing a short course in accounting.

I don't like accounting.

I got your mum a worm farm!

She doesn't like worms.

See if you can respond to one or both of these ideas

using one of the expressions that you've just learned.

So we're still thinking about those times when someone

makes a suggestion that you don't really like.

You could say "that doesn't tickle my fancy"

Now usually this expression is used when someone suggests

an activity or maybe an idea for an activity.

Why don't we go skiing on the weekend?

Nah that doesn't tickle my fancy.

If you don't like the idea of something or the concept of something

like marriage or waking up early then, you can simply just say

"It's not for me."

So it's quite casual, really relaxed informal way of saying that

it's not something that I like. It's not something that I enjoy.

I've come to realise that marriage is not for me.

I don't really like the idea of marriage.

Early mornings are not for me.

Actually, if I was to be honest I'd say that sleep-ins are not for me.

I like being awake early. What about you?

Do you like being awake early or do you like to sleep in?

See if you can make a sentence using one of these expressions

and add it down in the comments below.

So now we're ready to talk about I don't like a person.

When you're talking about a person you don't like,

we've got to be a little bit careful, don't we?

Again we can use I'd rather.

I'd rather not or I'd rather you didn't.

But we've got to make sure that we're talking about the action

not the person.

I'd rather not

do something with them because I don't like them,

okay I'd rather not see them.

I'd rather not meet them.

I'd rather not go to their house or hang out with them.

Is it okay if I invite Jess to your birthday?

I'd rather you didn't.

We don't get along.

We don't really like hanging out with each other.

I'd rather you didn't. We've never really clicked.

So when you click with someone, your personalities match

and you get along really, really well but here we're

using it in a negative way, aren't we?

We're saying we never really clicked.

We never really enjoyed hanging out with each other

so I don't want her to come. I don't really like her.

Now if you're looking for a much stronger meaning

then you can say

"I can't stand her"

I'd rather you didn't invite her, I can't stand her.

A little more formal but still just as strong as I can't stand her is

"I find her intolerable"

I'd rather you didn't invite her. I find her intolerable.

All right now is the part that I know you've been hanging out for.

We're going to talk about some options that have a much stronger  

meaning okay so when you really, really want to make it clear

that you don't like something.

You're not worried about being polite, you want your message

to be crystal clear, you don't like it.

I'm serious, you don't like it.

I want everyone to know that.

So we just talked about using I find someone intolerable

or I can't stand someone.

We can use both of these expressions to talk about

people or things and probably specifically activities.

I can't stand watching cricket.

I find horse racing intolerable.

And there are some really, really strong synonyms of dislike

so if you want to get serious

say that you loathe something or someone or you detest them

or you despise them.

I loathe the idea of getting stuck on a cruise ship

for three whole weeks.

I detest the way he takes credit for Sam's work.

I despise people who leave their cigarette butts in the sand

at the beach, it's disgusting.

You can also say in a really strong way that you disapprove

of someone's behaviour if you don't like what they're doing.

I know John's going through a rough time at home

but I really disapprove of him turning up late every day.

If you want to make it really clear

that you don't want to do something,

then you can say "I have no desire to do it"

I have no desire to spend three weeks on a sailing boat

in the middle of the ocean.

And if you want to make it even stronger again you can add

no desire whatsoever.

I have no desire to spend my holiday

completing an accounting course.

No desire whatsoever.

What do you have no desire to do? No desire whatsoever.

Make sure you share it with me down in the comments.

I'm super curious now.

So that's it my friends, they are my suggestions on alternatives

that you can use for I don't like it.

I wonder if you can think of any others?

There are so many different and quite frankly

better ways of saying that you don't like something in English

so I hope that you were able to

build on your vocabulary and learn something new with me today.

Keep practising your natural English expression with me right here

in this imitation lesson and make sure you subscribe

to mmmEnglish as well. You can do that right down here.

I make new lessons every week.

You've got to subscribe if you want to keep up to date.

Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next lesson!