This is a business writing discussion about refusing a meeting you cannot attend. It is not a letter to a friend, and a long apology is not the task. The useful refusal names a date you can do. The weak refusal explains your week and hopes the client will invent a time. Take a side, but a side that never offers a date has not refused anything a client can answer. Your first sentence should be the refusal a stranger can quote. Then give the date you can do, or argue with a reason the two students did not use.
Refuse a meeting you cannot attend. The useful refusal names a date you can do. A long apology is not a date.
Professor
A client has asked you to a meeting on Thursday at 3. You cannot attend. Some people write a long apology and hope the client will suggest another time. Others name one date they can do and keep the apology to a sentence. How should you refuse?
Grace
Apologize fully. If the refusal is short, the client will think they do not matter. Explain the conflict in detail so they see you are busy for a real reason.
Paul
Give a date. I cannot do Thursday at 3. I can do Friday at 10. That is a refusal the client can answer. A long story about your calendar is not an alternative.
14:00
0 words. Aim for 100 or more.
The draft stays on this device.
Before you check the quiz
The first sentence is a refusal a stranger can quote.
You name a date you can do, or you argue why a date is the wrong rule, with a reason Grace and Paul did not use.
You did not fill the post with an apology and stop.