Giving Bad News

I regret to inform you that...

This page lists useful phrases for the language function of giving bad or unwelcome news to other people.

Elementary

• I'm sorry but ...
• I'm afraid ...

Pre-Intermediate

• Actually ...
• Because of ...
• I regret to inform you that ...
• I tried ... but ...
• I'm sorry to say (that) ...
• I'm sorry to tell you (that) ...
• In answer to your request, ...
• It's not ... enough (for/to ... )
• It's too ... (for/to be able to ... )
• That is usually okay, but ...
• There are some problems (with ... )
• There have been some problems (with ... )
• Unfortunately, ...

Intermediate

• ... won't be possible (at this stage/at this time).
• Currently, ...
• Due to ...
• I am asked this quite often and the answer is (always) ...
• I am sorry to have to tell you that ...
• I am unable to ...
• I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
• I checked (with my boss/the relevant documents) and ...
• I have some bad news for you (I'm afraid).
• I tried my best but ...
• I was going to ...
• In fact, ...
• Instead of that (I'd like to offer you) ...
• It's only available ...
• Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
• That is usually true, but ...
• That used to be possible/allowed/permitted, but ...
• That's not really possible.
• There are some troubles with ...
• There's a rule against that/ ...
• This is a result of ...
• You need ... 's permission (to ... )

Upper-Intermediate

• After consulting with my colleague/colleagues/boss, ...
• Bad news, I'm afraid.
• Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
• I am sorry to have to inform you that ...
• I attempted (to) ... , but ...
• I can see/understand why you might/would think that (but ... )
• I thought ... was possible, but ...
• I was planning to ... , but ...
• I would love to help you, but ...
• I'd like to be able to help you but ...
• If you look at the attached information, you will see that ...
• In reality ...
• It's against ... policy.
• It's limited to ...
• Owing to ...
• Rather than that, (might I suggest) ...
• Sorry I couldn't be (of) more help.
• Thank you in advance for your understanding.
• That is usually the case/acceptable/the system, but ...
• That used to be the case, but ...
• That's the best I can do.
• There are some issues with ...
• There's nothing I can do.
• We always reject/turn down such requests.

Advanced

• ... don't have the authority to be able to ...
• Although we have been able to respond positively to similar requests in the past, ...
• Are you sure you want to hear this?
• As you might have guessed, ...
• As you suspected, ...
• At this moment in time, ...
• Brace yourself.
• Despite my best efforts, ...
• I can see why you might think that/ ... , but ...
• I can understand why you would ask/request that, but ...
• I can't see any way out of this.
• I was hoping ...
• I wish I could help you (really I do, but ...)
• I would like to warn you in advance that ...
• Initially, ...
• It appears to be the case that ...
• It is my unfortunate duty to report to you that ...
• It would appear that ...
• It's out of my hands.
• Realistically, ...
• There's no easy/nice way to say this, ...
• There's good news and bad news.
• You might want to sit down before you hear this.