Wednesday, June 26, 2019

word choice - Dismissing an expectation


What can be said when I need to dismiss an expectation?


Here are some examples of what I mean by "expectation":




  • I ask someone what time it is, then I remembered that I'm actually wearing a watch. The person expects to tell me what time it is but I no longer require help. (Expectation created by me)




  • I suspect I do not have enough coins to buy a drink from a coin-only vending machine. I ask someone for change. However I discover that I indeed have enough coins with me. The person still carries an expectation to help me although I no longer require help. (Expectation created by me)





  • A waiter offers to refill a glass. He is expected to serve me because of the nature of the job. I do not wish to have a refill. (Expectation not created by me)




I came up with もう要らない but I think saying that is unnecessarily direct in conveying "I no longer need (help)".



Answer



As Sawa said, やっぱりいいです works when the expectation is created by you. いいです works when the expectation was not created by you.


If you want to be more respectful, you can use (やはり)結構{けっこう}です.


There is also a variant (やっぱり)大丈夫{だいじょうぶ}です which is heard a lot, but some insist that this use of 大丈夫 is wrong or strange.


Just to warn you, もう要らない sounds quite rude. もう (anymore) could be taken as if you don't need the help anymore because the help wasn't given early enough. 要らない sounds a bit like "I don't need and I don't want".



The いい/結構 variants are really the best, similar to English "I'm fine, thanks".


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