5 ms·

Great advice from Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”: simply saying “I would prefer not to…” has worked so many times for me.

parineum 5y ago
This is usually the way I respond to friends who know they can follow that up with "please!" and I'll do it. It's kind of a "how important is this to you?" test.
novosel 5y ago
I would like to hear (read) Melville's Bartebly's genius response in other languages. For my part: Radije ne bih. (Serbian)
- stavros 5y ago
  Θα προτιμούσα να μην το κάνω.
- Pompidou 5y ago
  Je préférerais ne pas.
  - ornornor 5y ago
    That’s not grammatically correct in my opinion. I’d say “je n’aime autant pas” ou “je ne préférerais pas” but it doesn’t sound exactly like it should.
    - jraph 5y ago
      “je n’aime autant pas” sounds weird. “je ne préférerais pas” is correct but I agree it does not have the same feeling as "I'd prefer not to". I suspect "I'd prefer not to" is somewhat difficult to translate in French. This is probably because in English, "not to" without repeating the verb / action feels natural but in French it would feel like something is missing. You could try "Je préfèrerais ne pas faire ça" but that does not sound great either. I would probably go for "Ça ne m'arrange pas" ("It isn't convenient for me").
      - Juliate 5y ago
        "Je préfererais pas" is valid (and matches the contraction of "I'd prefer not to"), although a bit less formal. Almost equivalent to "Je préfererais ne pas (le faire)" is valid too in everyday speak. And slightly different from "Je ne préfererais pas".
    - remram 5y ago
      "je ne préférerais pas" is "I would not prefer to" not "I would prefer not to" "je n'aime autant pas" is "I might as well not"
- scotty79 5y ago
  Wolałbym nie. ((I would wish/chose/prefer) (not))
masklinn 5y ago
Contra: saying that you would prefer not to means that you can and will if pushed enough.
AndrewOMartin 5y ago
I once heard, "I'd love to want to, but I don't".

parineum 5y ago

This is usually the way I respond to friends who know they can follow that up with "please!" and I'll do it. It's kind of a "how important is this to you?" test.

novosel 5y ago

I would like to hear (read) Melville's Bartebly's genius response in other languages. For my part: Radije ne bih. (Serbian)

stavros 5y ago
Θα προτιμούσα να μην το κάνω.
Pompidou 5y ago
Je préférerais ne pas.
- ornornor 5y ago
  That’s not grammatically correct in my opinion. I’d say “je n’aime autant pas” ou “je ne préférerais pas” but it doesn’t sound exactly like it should.
  - jraph 5y ago
    “je n’aime autant pas” sounds weird. “je ne préférerais pas” is correct but I agree it does not have the same feeling as "I'd prefer not to". I suspect "I'd prefer not to" is somewhat difficult to translate in French. This is probably because in English, "not to" without repeating the verb / action feels natural but in French it would feel like something is missing. You could try "Je préfèrerais ne pas faire ça" but that does not sound great either. I would probably go for "Ça ne m'arrange pas" ("It isn't convenient for me").
    - Juliate 5y ago
      "Je préfererais pas" is valid (and matches the contraction of "I'd prefer not to"), although a bit less formal. Almost equivalent to "Je préfererais ne pas (le faire)" is valid too in everyday speak. And slightly different from "Je ne préfererais pas".
  - remram 5y ago
    "je ne préférerais pas" is "I would not prefer to" not "I would prefer not to" "je n'aime autant pas" is "I might as well not"
scotty79 5y ago
Wolałbym nie. ((I would wish/chose/prefer) (not))

masklinn 5y ago

Contra: saying that you would prefer not to means that you can and will if pushed enough.

AndrewOMartin 5y ago

I once heard, "I'd love to want to, but I don't".