Saying yes/no?

Hello.

I'd like to ask about saying yes and no to things.

If somebody let's say offers you some food they have bought/made for you, should you accept it just to be polite or are you allowed to reject it?

If it was something casual like "hey do you want this candy bar? I have a spare." could you reject that?

Basically I'm asking what is appropriate to accept and reject in terms of gift giving.

Thanks.

If it was something casual like "hey do you want this candy bar? I have a spare." could you reject that?

Of course. You can say thank you for the offer but you are not hungry, or that you want to go for something else, etc.

If somebody let's say offers you some food they have bought/made for you, should you accept it just to be polite or are you allowed to reject it?
If you have some serious reason like you are allergic to nuts and someone offers you a pecan pie, just as an example, that they baked for you, now of course while we all hope that friends who offer home-cooked food know your preferences, you could politely state the reason and decline it for that reason.

But you can't just look at whatever it was they brought to you, and say no just because you don't like it, if that is what you are asking about :)



Basically I'm asking what is appropriate to accept and reject in terms of gift giving.

When I went to Japan some random guy just came up to me to practice his English. Since I was eating crisps I asked him if he wanted some. At first he refused politely but after a second or two took one anyway. I think Japanese people don't like to refuse things, they even use phrases like "sore wa chotto" instead of a plain "no". It made me feel bad though because it seemed to me like I forced something on him.

In Domain's case, the "random guy" was the intruding party, so he must have thought he couldn't possibly refuse anything Domain kindly offered - if he had done that, he would have been even more rude lol. In any case, you shouldn't feel bad about it at all, Domain.

Generally, it is rude/offended to refuse/reject any offers unless you have a good reason that the offer-er can understand/relate to, i.e. allergy, obesity, tooth aches, etc. If not, take it(but you are now obliged to return something later). If unsure of the taste/like, say "ja, (amaete) chotto dake" & have a small bite first. If dislike, "kore wa chotto watashi no kuchi ni aimasen".