Indirect refusal & hedging — When 'Yes' Is the Wrong Answer
Grammar: Indirect refusal and hedging language in professional communication
Free ESL grammar exercise on indirect refusal & hedging themed around when 'yes' is the wrong answer. Printable worksheet from classplan.ai.
What's on this worksheet
A Business English ESL grammar exercise on business, practising indirect refusal and hedging language in professional communication. The worksheet has a short reading excerpt, a grammar reference and graded practice items.
From the reading
Phrases such as that falls outside our current scope, we would be happy to explore that in a follow-on phase, or I want to make sure we protect the quality of what we have already agreed reframe the refusal as client-focused, not self-protective.
Grammar
- Indirect refusal
- Use would find it difficult to or may not be feasible to decline professionally. Avoids blunt rejection and keeps the relationship intact.
- Conditional offer
- Link a 'yes' to a condition: If you were to approve additional budget, we could include the new section.
Sample items
- Adding a new section to the website ______ our current scope, so we would need to discuss a revised fee.
- We ______ it difficult to meet a revised deadline without adjusting the project budget accordingly.
- That request ______ feasible within the timeline we both signed off on last month.
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