How to Leave a Party Early. 7 Polite Phrases For Saying Goodbye

Parties are great as long as they make us happy. Yet, if you feel uncomfortable, out of place, and don’t know what to do or how to act, it is time to learn how to leave a party early. But even in that case, it is essential to stay polite – in case you don’t want to become a party pooper. Today, we will help our introverted friends and make their lives a bit easier. So, if you’ve recognized yourself in the previous sentences, keep reading. We are happy to share our favorite ways of leaving a party. 

How to leave a party: 6 general rules and tips

Avid readers of the Promova blog are already familiar with common party phrases we’ve discussed earlier. Now, it is time to expand your vocabulary even more. Later we will teach you to blame people and pass the buck (and we are not even joking right now), but before that, you need to remember some basic rules and tips for leaving a party.

1. No matter how hard it is, you can’t leave too soon. Even if you don’t like the party at all. Even if you don’t like the host (how did you even end up at this party?). If you haven’t created a good reason not to come, you should stay at least for a few hours after arriving at the place. 
2. Come to the party before it starts. If you know in advance that you will leave before the end of the party, the best thing is to arrive before the other guests. This way, you will have time to help the host and create believable excuses to leave a party. 
3. Notify the host in advance. Once again, if you know you will only stay for a short time, it is better to tell the host about your plans immediately. It will help you to avoid awkward persuasions and to have a good reason when it’s time to leave a party. 
4. Don’t make a scene. Yeah, we know it can be a challenge for some people. But unless you are leaving your own wedding, don’t make a scene out of your farewelling. Say goodbye to the host and guests you know, and move on. 
5. Sometimes, taking a French leave is appropriate. But please don’t leave every party without saying goodbye – it will ruin your reputation and friendships. Nevertheless, sometimes, it is a good way to leave early a big party with hundreds of guests. When you see that the host is really busy – don’t worry; just go. You will explain yourself later.
6. Create a few excuses for future parties. If you know yourself, and you know that you don’t like celebrations too much, make up a few good excuses to leave before someone invites you. It will help you be always prepared and confident regardless of the circumstances.

These general tricks are great for situations when you know you will need to leave soon. But sometimes, the desire to go away only appears amid the party. In that case, you have to make up excuses on the fly. 

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7 of the best excuses to leave a party

When you catch yourself counting the number of ice cubes in your glass in the middle of the party, it is probably time to leave. But how can you do so? Even though the celebration is dull, you don’t want to be rude or offend the hosts. For this reason, we’ve created our compilation of good excuses to leave a party. But remember, this section contains many lies – ensure you are ready for them. 

Reason 1. Leaving because of the family

If you are at the party alone, and your husband/kid/sister/brother/mom/cousin/anyone you are related to is not with you, you can easily benefit from this situation. No matter what reason you will make up, family excuses always work. Here is a short guide on leaving the party due to family issues:

1. Grab your phone and go to the bathroom. 
2. Choose the family member with whom you will conspire. 
3. Send them a text message (make sure you’ve chosen the person who answers fast) explaining why you want to leave. 
4. With your conspiracy buddy, make up an excuse for leaving – it can be millions of them. For example, if your husband feels sick, or you have a sister who unexpectedly comes to visit you after a few years, you need to pick up your kid from school, etc. 
5. Ask them to call you with this excuse in a few minutes. When everything’s done, leave the bathroom and return to the party. 
6. Pretend that you enjoy it for a few minutes. 
7. Wait until your family member calls you; pick up the phone. 
8. Make a worried face and say that you need to leave because of the reason that you’ve made up. 
9. Leave.

Play the scene near the hosts to make this excuse even more workable. It will show them how concerned you are, and they won’t ask any questions. After that, with a deeply worried face, you can say how fantastic everything was, how sad you are, and that you don’t want to leave the party that early. Well done! Now you can go and enjoy your cozy social-activity-free evening.

Reason 2. Leaving because of the babysitter

If you have kids, you are lucky! In addition to all the joy and happiness they bring, you also receive plenty of good excuses to leave early. As mentioned in the previous section, if your child is mature enough, you can always ask them to help you. You can even teach them this method at home to create an escaping strategy – for example, every time you send your kid a message with a secret code, they should immediately call you and save you from the party.

But if your baby is not old enough to help you yet, you can use their babysitter as an excuse to leave. For example, you can say that you saw something odd on camera and need to go check on the child and their nanny. Or you can say that the babysitter feels sick and needs to leave her job earlier – it will give you the option to leave the party and return to your kids.

Reason 3. Leaving because of the pets

You can use almost the same excuses if you don’t have a baby but have a pet. Of course, you can’t make your kitten or dog call you. Yet, there are still a few options you can use. If you have a friend or someone watching your pet, you can ask them to call you regarding your animal companion. 

They can use multiple reasons – weird behavior, malaise, giving birth, etc. And you can also blame the pet sitters as well, saying that they need to leave earlier and that you can’t leave your beloved pets alone.

Reason 4. Leaving because of the sickness

This reason is suitable for those who are ready to take the blame. If you didn’t prepare any good excuses to leave, you can use the old-school method and pretend that you don’t feel well. 

To make it look more plausible, you can start coughing or sneezing or stay in the water closet for a while. The point is that no one is going to blame you for feeling sick, and you can easily leave the party anytime you want.

Reason 5. Leaving because of work

It is another perfect excuse that has a plethora of options. Depending on your profession, you can say that you have an urgent project you need to finish immediately because your boss just called you. Of course, don’t forget to stay in the closet for a while, imitating an important conversation.

If your job doesn’t require doing any projects, just say that you have to wake up early tomorrow, and you don’t want to oversleep and miss your shift. Generally, early morning is probably the best excuse you can use – it is a common reason, and no one will suspect you of just escaping the party.

Reason 6. Leaving because of the travel

Speaking of early mornings, you can also use this excuse to say that you have a plane/train/boat/any other transport that has a departure time. This leaving reason is mostly useful only in real cases – when you genuinely have an early business trip or vacation planned the day after a party. 

But if you are at the party without your close friends, colleagues, or other people involved in your regular life, you can use it as an excuse and pretend that you have a flight, for example. In that case, we recommend blaming a business trip – if the people from the party somehow find your social media, it will be easier to explain the lack of vacation photos.

Reason 7. Leaving honestly

Even though most of our excuses on the list weren’t very truthful, the last one is. It is probably the best way to escape – just find the host, tell them about your plans, and go. You don’t even have to explain anything – a simple “I have to go now” would be enough. Of course, if the party’s host is a normal person who respects boundaries. 

However, this excuse genuinely depends on your relationship with the host. According to Time’s famous article, sometimes it is better to be honest with our close people, while strangers can get the truth with little understatement between the lines. It means that you are going to leave your friend’s party, you can just tell that you need to go. But when you have to escape a party of a person you are not close with, use one of our excuses or make up your own. It will help you to stay polite and maintain a good relationship with the host.

How can Promova help you learn the best excuses to leave early?

You need to have some English knowledge to explain yourself to the guests and the host if you are going to a party with native speakers. Without knowing basic rules, you won’t be able to escape even the most boring party. That is why learning some English excuses that can come in handy in the future is necessary. 

Luckily, we know the best solution for you. Promova is an online-based language learning platform created to provide various studying options for people worldwide. You can choose the most convenient opportunity for you – personal or group lessons with professional tutors, a free Conversation Club to practice speaking, and a convenient Promova mobile app created for those who prefer to study alone. Don’t hesitate, and check the Promova website right away to see what option is the best for you.

Conclusion 

In general, leaving the party earlier might be a challenging task for some people. You need to either tell the truth or create a good excuse in advance in case you don’t want to look rude or offend the host. We hope that this article will come in handy one day. And now, please, share your personal excuses in the comments – maybe you have something great for us as well.