German Phrase
Nein, danke, mir geht's gut.
Meaning
A polite way to decline an offer or invitation while reassuring the listener that you are feeling fine. It combines a brief negative response with a thank‑you and a short health‑check statement.
When to use
Use this phrase when someone asks if you’d like something (a drink, a piece of cake, help, etc.) or when you’re asked how you are feeling and you want to keep the reply short and friendly.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Neindankemirgeht'sgut
Nein
A simple negation meaning “no”. It can stand alone or start a polite refusal.
danke
Literally “thanks”; when placed after “Nein” it softens the refusal, similar to “no, thank you”.
mir geht's gut
Colloquial contraction of “mir geht es gut”. The dative pronoun mir is the subject of the impersonal verb gehen, meaning “to go/feel”.
geht's
Contraction of “geht es”. Common in spoken German; the apostrophe replaces the omitted “e”.
gut
Adverb meaning “well” or “fine”. Completes the idiom “mir geht's gut”.
🗨In Conversation
Möchtest du noch einen Kaffee?
Would you like another coffee?
Nein, danke, mir geht's gut.
No, thank you, I'm fine.
✕Common Mistakes
mir geht gut
The verb gehen requires the dummy pronoun es in this construction; the correct form is “mir geht es gut” or the contracted “mir geht's gut”.
Nein danke mir geht's gut
Missing commas makes the sentence harder to parse. In written German, commas separate the interjection “Nein, danke” from the main clause.
Nein, danke, mir geht gut.
Again, the dummy pronoun es is required; omit it and the sentence sounds ungrammatical.
↔Alternatives
Nein, danke, mir geht es gut.
No, thank you, I'm fine.
Mir geht's gut, danke.
I'm fine, thank you.
Danke, aber ich fühle mich gut.
Thanks, but I feel good.
Cultural Tip
In German conversation, it’s common to pair a brief “Nein” with “danke” to keep the tone courteous. The contraction “mir geht's gut” is informal and used among friends or in casual settings; in more formal contexts you might say the full form “mir geht es gut”. Also, Germans often answer health‑related questions with this idiom rather than a simple “Ja” or “Nein”.