Learn English – When to use decline for polite refusal and when not to

business-languagepolitenessword-choice

In a business English class:

One of my students said: "I decline your report."

I said that was wrong, but I couldn't think of a concrete reason, or rule for when I can use decline as a polite refusal.

My question is, is there a rule for using decline as a polite refusal? (For example I can say: "Your credit card is declined.", but I can't decline your report).

Best Answer

The problem that I perceive in your student's example has nothing to do with a polite refusal, and more to do with the unidiomatic use of "report" as the object of "decline".

The verb decline normally implies that there is some sort of transaction or offer being considered, which may be politely rejected. Idiomatic usage of decline usually occurs in the context of an exchange or negotiation:

  • I declined his offer on my house.
  • They declined my application.
  • The board declined to extend her contract.

A report, however, is not something that is normally used in an exchange. Rather, we expect a report to be "approved" if it meets standards or is otherwise acceptable. When something is not approved, we usually describe this with the verb reject or refuse:

  • The journal rejected my paper.
  • The editor refused my story.

In a business context, I would not say that either of these words are overly harsh or inappropriate.

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