English: Making Plans & Invitations

Level: B1. Inviting a friend for coffee, suggesting a film, saying yes with warmth or saying no without hurting anyone — this is social English you use every week. This lesson gives you the phrases to invite, accept, decline, and settle the where and when.

By the end of this page you can…

…invite someone to do something, accept an invitation warmly, decline it politely with a reason, suggest your own ideas, and agree a time and place.

Inviting: three easy openers

Most invitations in English start with one of three patterns. Learn each as a chunk and you can invite anyone to anything.

• Do you want to …? — relaxed, for friends: Do you want to grab a coffee?
• Would you like to …? — a little more formal and polite: Would you like to join us for dinner?
• How about …? / What about …? — to suggest an activity or time: How about Friday evening?

After the opener comes the base verb: Do you want to see a film?, Would you like to come over? You can also invite with Let’s … when the plan is already shared: Let’s get lunch.

Accepting and declining

The golden rule for declining: thank, soften, give a short reason, and offer another time. A bare No sounds cold; I’d love to, but I’m working on Friday — maybe next week? keeps the friendship warm.

Suggesting and agreeing the details

Once someone says yes, fix the plan: what, where and when. Use shall and let’s to make suggestions.

• Shall we meet at seven? (British, a soft suggestion as a question)
• Let’s meet outside the cinema.
• Where shall we meet? · What time works for you?
• See you there! — a natural way to close.

A short conversation

Aria: Do you want to see the new film on Saturday? Noah: I’d love to, but I’m visiting my parents on Saturday. How about Sunday? Aria: Sunday works! Shall we meet at six? Noah: Sounds great. Where shall we meet? Aria: Let’s meet outside the cinema. See you there!

Usage notes

• want to vs would like to: Do you want to …? is relaxed and common with friends; Would you like to …? is softer and safer with people you know less well.
• free: Are you free on Friday? is the most common way to check availability before inviting.
• grab / get: grab a coffee, get lunch, grab a bite are everyday, friendly invitations.
• I’d love to always needs to even when the verb is dropped: Do you want to come? — I’d love to. (not I’d love).
• tentative plans: I might …, We were thinking of … and Maybe we could … leave room before the plan is fixed.

Example sentences

Press play and say each line out loud — these are the phrases you will actually use with friends.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

How to say it

A few of these words catch English learners out — copy the audio, not the spelling.

• would has a silent l: it sounds like wood.
• shall is short and relaxed in speech, almost shl before we: shall we runs together as shaw-wee.
• fancy is FAN-see, stress on the first part.
• I’d love to links smoothly: ide-LUV-too, with love stressed.

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

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