“Say This, Not That” Challenge
Yes and no are two of the first words you learn in English class. But native English speakers don’t always say that.
Instead, we might say “Absolutely!” “You bet!” “I’d rather not,” or “No way!” – and each expression communicates something a little different.
Today you’ll learn 40 different ways to say YES and NO in English. We’ll look at when to use each one, whether it’s formal or informal, and the extra meaning it can express. By the end of this lesson, you’ll have lots of natural alternatives.
Different Ways To Say YES in English
Instead of just showing you a big list of words, I’m going to show each one inside a little situation.
- “Do you have a dog?”
- “Yeah / yup / yep”
These all simply mean “yes” with no additional meaning. These are all pretty informal, so you should generally avoid them in more professional situations like job interviews.
- “Have you bought the tickets?”
- “Mm-hmm / Uh-huh”
These sounds both mean “yes.” Sometimes people use these when they’re distracted and not completely paying attention to the person asking the question.
- “Are you going to the party?”
- “For sure! / You bet!”
These both express enthusiasm – like saying “DEFINITELY yes!” These are both more informal expressions.
- “Are you interested in working with our company?”
- “Definitely!”
This is a more professional way to express an enthusiastic “yes”
- “Will you have this report done by Friday?”
- “Absolutely. / Without a doubt.”
These express 100% certainty – you are guaranteeing that the answer is “yes.”
- “Can you give me a ride?”
- “Sure. / No problem / I’d be happy to.”
We can use “sure” to mean “yes” when responding to a request for a favor, like “can you give me a ride?” or in response to an offer, like “Do you want some ice cream?” – “Sure!”
You can use it in both formal and informal situations – again, in reply to favors and offers. We don’t use “sure” when replying to questions about facts, like “Do you have a dog?” or “Are you married?”
“No problem” and “I’d be happy to” are also common replies when you want to say “yes” to a favor.
- “Can you put me in touch with the director of marketing?”
- “Of course / Certainly”
These are more formal/professional ways to agree to a request or favor.
- “Want to join us for lunch?”
- “I’d love to!”
This is a way to give an enthusiastic “yes” specifically to an invitation – someone invites you to a party, or to a meal, or to participate in an activity. “I’d love to!” can be used in both formal and informal situations.
- “Can I borrow your pen?”
- “Go ahead / Be my guest.”
These phrases are used to say “yes” when someone asks your permission to do something. For granting permission, we could also say “sure.”
- “Should we order some pizza tonight?”
- “Why not?”
The expression “why not?” means “yes” – more specifically, it means “there’s no good reason NOT to do this action.” It’s often used to reply to suggestions and ideas for future plans or possibilities.
- “It’s raining. Are you going to cancel the picnic this afternoon?”
- “I guess so.”
The phrase “I guess so” expresses a reluctant yes – when you are saying yes, but you don’t really want to say yes, or you’re somewhat sad about the “yes.”
As you can see, native English speakers use MANY different expressions beyond a simple “yes.” If you want to transform 100 basic English phrases into more fluent phrases, check out our “Say This, Not That” Challenge!
Different Ways To Say NO in English
These are especially important to learn because we often want to be polite when declining an invitation or request – it sounds a little rude to just say “no.”
Or maybe you want to add some additional information to the simple answer of “no” – a lot of today’s expressions include extra meaning. Again, I’ll show each one in context.
- “Are you from Canada?”
- “Nope.”
This is simply another informal way to say “no.”
- “Do you like to read?”
- “Nah.”
“Nah” is another informal way to say “no” – and we typically use it for replying to questions about our preferences, opinions, or plans (not to questions about facts, like “Are you from Canada?” or “Is the bank still open?”)
This word sounds a little bit like you don’t care – so I’d avoid it in situations where someone is inviting you to something or asking if you like their work.
- “Have you seen this movie?”
- “Uh-uh / Mm-mm”
These sounds both mean “no.” Sometimes people use these when they’re distracted and not completely paying attention to the person asking the question.
- “Did you take out the trash?”
- “Not yet.”
Replying “not yet” expresses that something is not true in the past or present, but probably will be true in the future. So you’d say “not yet” if you haven’t taken out the trash, but you will do it later.
- “Are you taking any classes?”
- “Not right now.”
This answer expresses that something is not true in the present, but maybe was true in the past or will be true in the future. So if you took classes in the past but stopped, you could say “not right now.” Or if you aren’t taking classes currently but plan to do so in the future, you could also say “not right now.”
- “Is the bank open on Sunday?”
- “I don’t think so. / Probably not.”
These are ways to say “no” when you are not 100% certain.
It’s more common and natural to say “I don’t think so” instead of “I think not.”
- “Do you want something to drink?”
- “No thanks. / No thank you.”
These are both polite ways to say “no” when someone offers you something.
- “Are you going to buy those $200 shoes?”
- “No way! / Absolutely not!”
These express a STRONG no. The phrase “No way” is more informal.
- “Want to come to our barbecue this weekend?”
- “I’m afraid I can’t. / I wish I could, but… / Maybe another time.”
These are all polite ways to say “no” to an invitation.
- “Want to go surfing with us?”
- “I think I’ll pass. / It’s not really my thing. / I’d rather not.”
These are ways to say “no” when someone asks you to join an activity that you don’t enjoy.
- “Can you deliver the products tomorrow?”
- “Unfortunately that’s not possible. / I’m afraid not.”
These are professional ways to express that you won’t be able to do what someone is requesting.
- “Have the customers been informed about the problem?”
- “Not to my knowledge. / Not as far as I know.”
These expressions mean that according to what you currently know or are aware of, the answer is “no.” It’s possible the answer is yes, but you don’t know it. “Not to my knowledge” is more formal.
As you can see, these different expressions all add slightly different meanings. A lot of them are commonly used in some situations, but don’t sound natural if used in another situation.
Again, you can learn over 200 natural phrases that native speakers use inside our short and sweet “Say This, Not That” Challenge!
It’s 10 days of daily lessons – in each one you’ll learn the phrases, practice them in a worksheet, and speak with Shayna AI to try using them yourself.
