Inviting Someone and Accepting or Declining in Spanish

Inviting Someone and Accepting or Declining in Spanish

In this lesson, you will learn how to make a simple invitation and how to accept or decline politely. You will use familiar verbs such as querer — to want, poder — to be able to / can, venir — to come, ir — to go, comer — to eat, and estudiar — to study.

A simple invitation with ¿Quieres...?

Use ¿Quieres + infinitive...? to ask whether someone wants to do an activity.

• ¿Quieres venir? — Do you want to come?
• ¿Quieres ir al parque? — Do you want to go to the park?
• ¿Quieres comer en el restaurante? — Do you want to eat in the restaurant?
• ¿Quieres estudiar esta tarde? — Do you want to study this afternoon?

Inviting with a day or time

• ¿Quieres venir el sábado? — Do you want to come on Saturday?
• ¿Quieres ir al parque esta tarde? — Do you want to go to the park this afternoon?
• ¿Quieres comer a las dos? — Do you want to eat at two?

Accepting simply

Useful positive answers include:

• Sí. — Yes.
• Sí, claro. — Yes, of course.
• Sí, gracias. — Yes, thank you.
• Perfecto. — Perfect.

Accepting and confirming the plan

You can repeat the important detail.

Person A: ¿Quieres venir el sábado? — Do you want to come on Saturday?

Person B: Sí, claro. El sábado. — Yes, of course. Saturday.

Declining politely

Useful negative answers include:

• No, gracias. — No, thank you.
• Lo siento, no puedo. — I am sorry, I cannot.
• Lo siento, tengo que trabajar. — I am sorry, I have to work.
• No puedo hoy. — I cannot today.

Giving a short reason

You can use familiar obligation or need language.

• No puedo. Tengo que trabajar. — I cannot. I have to work.
• No puedo. Tengo que estudiar. — I cannot. I have to study.
• Lo siento. Necesito ir a casa. — I am sorry. I need to go home.

Offering another day

If you cannot accept the first invitation, you can suggest a different day with a short question.

• ¿Y el sábado? — What about Saturday?
• ¿Y el domingo? — What about Sunday?

For now, learn these as short practical alternatives.

Invitation 1: park

Person A: ¿Quieres ir al parque esta tarde? — Do you want to go to the park this afternoon?

Person B: Sí, claro. — Yes, of course.

Invitation 2: restaurant

Person A: ¿Quieres comer en el restaurante? — Do you want to eat in the restaurant?

Person B: Sí, gracias. — Yes, thank you.

Invitation 3: study

Person A: ¿Quieres estudiar esta tarde? — Do you want to study this afternoon?

Person B: Lo siento, no puedo. Tengo que trabajar. — I am sorry, I cannot. I have to work.

Invitation 4: another day

Person A: ¿Quieres venir el viernes? — Do you want to come on Friday?

Person B: Lo siento, no puedo. ¿Y el sábado? — I am sorry, I cannot. What about Saturday?

Person A: Sí, perfecto. — Yes, perfect.

Using ¿Puedes venir?

You already know poder + infinitive. A common invitation or availability question is:

¿Puedes venir? — Can you come?

You can add a day or time.

• ¿Puedes venir el lunes? — Can you come on Monday?
• ¿Puedes venir a las seis? — Can you come at six?

Accepting ¿Puedes venir?

Person A: ¿Puedes venir a las seis? — Can you come at six?

Person B: Sí, puedo. — Yes, I can.

Declining ¿Puedes venir?

Person A: ¿Puedes venir el martes? — Can you come on Tuesday?

Person B: No, no puedo. Tengo que estudiar. — No, I cannot. I have to study.

Inviting with a planned activity

You can connect an invitation to a simple plan.

Voy a comer en el restaurante. ¿Quieres venir? — I am going to eat in the restaurant. Do you want to come?

Possible answer:

Sí, claro. — Yes, of course.

Another plan and invitation

El sábado voy a ir al parque. ¿Quieres venir? — On Saturday I am going to go to the park. Do you want to come?

Possible decline:

Lo siento, no puedo. — I am sorry, I cannot.

Confirming what you accepted

After accepting, repeat the key detail if necessary.

Person A: ¿Quieres comer a las dos? — Do you want to eat at two?

Person B: Sí, perfecto. A las dos. — Yes, perfect. At two.

Asking for repetition if the invitation is unclear

Use a familiar repair phrase.

¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?

In an informal exchange with someone you address as tú, a simple familiar form is:

¿Puedes repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?

Accept, decline, or suggest another option

Function	Spanish
accept	Sí, claro. — Yes, of course.
decline	Lo siento, no puedo. — I am sorry, I cannot.
give a reason	Tengo que trabajar. — I have to work.
offer another day	¿Y el sábado? — What about Saturday?

A complete invitation exchange

Person A: Hola, Ana. ¿Quieres ir al parque el sábado? — Hello, Ana. Do you want to go to the park on Saturday?

Person B: Sí, claro. — Yes, of course.

Person A: ¿Puedes venir a las cuatro? — Can you come at four?

Person B: Sí, puedo. — Yes, I can.

Person A: Perfecto. — Perfect.

A complete decline and alternative

Person A: ¿Quieres estudiar el viernes? — Do you want to study on Friday?

Person B: Lo siento, no puedo. Tengo que trabajar. — I am sorry, I cannot. I have to work.

Person A: ¿Y el sábado? — What about Saturday?

Person B: Sí, perfecto. — Yes, perfect.

A practical invitation method

1. Use ¿Quieres + infinitive...? for a simple invitation.
2. Add a day, time, or place if needed.
3. Accept with a short positive phrase.
4. Decline with no puedo or no, gracias.
5. Add a short reason with tener que or necesitar if useful.
6. Suggest another day with a short question if you want to keep the plan possible.

From Invitations to Saying Exactly When

You can now invite someone, accept or decline politely, give a short reason, and suggest another day. The next lesson focuses on saying when events happen with a, en, el, los, and de...a.