Making Invitations and Arrangements — Accepting and Refusing Politely — Grammar, Dialogues and Exercises — English 3rd Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

Introduction

Making arrangements and plans is an important skill in English. In this lesson, we will learn how to make, accept, and refuse invitations, as well as how to make plans and arrangements with friends.

Lesson Objectives

• Learn how to make invitations and suggestions
• Learn how to accept and refuse invitations politely
• Use expressions for making plans and arrangements
• Practice asking for and giving availability

1. Making Invitations

Common expressions for inviting someone:

Expression	Example	Meaning
Would you like to…?	Would you like to come to my party?	More formal/polite
Do you want to…?	Do you want to play football?	Neutral/ informal
Let’s…	Let’s go to the cinema.	Suggestion (including speaker)
How about…?	How about going to the beach?	Suggestion
What about…?	What about watching a movie?	Suggestion
Why don’t we…?	Why don’t we visit the museum?	Friendly suggestion
Shall we…?	Shall we have lunch together?	Polite suggestion

2. Accepting Invitations

Ways to accept an invitation:

• Yes, I’d love to! — Yes, I’d love to come to your party.
• Sure! / Of course! — Sure, that sounds great!
• That sounds great / wonderful / fantastic!
• Great idea! — Great idea! Let’s do that.
• Yes, with pleasure. (more formal)
• I’d be happy to.

Example dialogue (accepting):

Ahmed: Would you like to go to the park with me this afternoon?
Karim: Yes, I’d love to! What time?
Ahmed: At 4 o’clock.
Karim: Sounds great! See you then.

3. Refusing Invitations Politely

Ways to refuse politely (always give a reason):

• I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to… — I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to study for my exam.
• I’d love to, but… — I’d love to, but I’m busy on Saturday.
• Sorry, maybe next time.
• Unfortunately, I can’t because… (more formal)
• Thanks for the invitation, but…

Example dialogue (refusing):

Sarah: Do you want to come to my birthday party on Friday?
Leila: I’d love to, but I’m going to visit my grandmother. Sorry!
Sarah: No problem! Maybe next time.

4. Making Plans and Arrangements

Asking about availability:

• Are you free on Saturday?
• Do you have any plans for the weekend?
• What are you doing this evening?
• When are you available?

Making arrangements:

• Let’s meet at 5 PM.
• Shall we meet at the school entrance?
• We could meet at the café near my house.
• What about meeting on Sunday instead?

Example dialogue (making plans):

Rami: Are you free this weekend?
Samir: Yes, I am. What do you want to do?
Rami: How about going to the new shopping centre?
Samir: Good idea! When shall we meet?
Rami: Let’s meet on Saturday at 2 PM.
Samir: OK, see you near the main entrance.

5. Useful vocabulary for plans

English	Meaning (Arabic)
arrangement	ترتيب
invitation	دعوة
suggestion	اقتراح
available / free	متفرغ / حر
busy	مشغول
to accept	يقبل
to refuse / to decline	يرفض
to postpone / to put off	يؤجل
to cancel	يلغي
to confirm	يؤكد

6. Exercises

Exercise 1: Complete the dialogues with appropriate expressions.

1. A: _______ to go to the cinema tonight?
   B: I’d love to, but _______.
2. A: _______ about playing tennis this afternoon?
   B: Great idea! Where should we meet?
3. A: Are you _______ on Saturday?
   B: Yes, I am. What do you _______ to do?

Exercise 2: Write a short dialogue where you invite a friend to your house. Include: the invitation, accepting/refusing, and making arrangements (time and place).

Exercise 3: Choose the correct expression:

1. “Let’s / Shall” go to the library after school.
2. “Would you like / How about” to have dinner with us?
3. “I’d love to, but / Yes, let’s” — I’m sorry, I have a class at that time.

Summary

• Use Would you like to…? for polite invitations.
• Use Let’s / How about / Why don’t we for suggestions.
• Accept with Yes, I’d love to / Sure / Sounds great!
• Refuse politely with a reason: I’d love to, but… / I’m sorry, I can’t because…
• When making plans, ask about availability and suggest a specific time and place.

Similar Lessons

• Making Invitations, Offers and Suggestions — Polite Expressions (Would you like, Shall we, Let’s) — English 3rd Year Middle School
• Expressing Ability (Can, Could, Be able to) — Grammar Rules and Exercises — English 3rd Year Middle School