0
Johnson13 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
a negative question
In English, but not other European languages like German and French, in response to a negative question, the yes or the no MUST follow the opinion of the answer, rather than the agreement of the questioner.
eg 'You are not interested in that?' 'No, I'm not interested'
But in a dictionary there is a conversation:
‘It's not easy.’ ‘Yeah, you're right.’
YEAH means YES; does the conversation mean the second speaker thinks it easy?
(Things become more complicated when I know YEAH, RIGHT is used to say that you do not believe what somebody has just said, disagree with it, or are not interested in it.)
eg 'You are not interested in that?' 'No, I'm not interested'
But in a dictionary there is a conversation:
‘It's not easy.’ ‘Yeah, you're right.’
YEAH means YES; does the conversation mean the second speaker thinks it easy?
(Things become more complicated when I know YEAH, RIGHT is used to say that you do not believe what somebody has just said, disagree with it, or are not interested in it.)
Top answer
’YEAH means YES; does the conversation mean the second speaker thinks it easy? No. The second speaker thinks it is not easy.
- ’YEAH means YES; does the conversation mean the second speaker thinks it easy?
- No.
- The second speaker thinks it is not easy.
- ____________________ This is a problem in English which is almost universally recognized, even by native speakers (who are usually the last to know).
- We can use 'yes' and 'no' to signal either opinion or agreement, as you term them.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
12 Answers
0
Johnson13‘It's not easy.’ ‘Yeah, you're right.’YEAH means YES; does the conversation mean the second speaker thinks it easy?No. The second speaker thinks it is not easy.
____________________
This is a problem in English which is almost universally recognized, even by native speakers (who are usually the last to know).
00
Thanks.
But is it possible to say YES followed by a negative statement?
For example, a teacher asks his student, 'You don't have the outine?'
Can the student say 'Yes, I don't have.'?
But is it possible to say YES followed by a negative statement?
For example, a teacher asks his student, 'You don't have the outine?'
Can the student say 'Yes, I don't have.'?
00
Johnson13Can the student say 'Yes, I don't have.'?No. It doesn't work like that.
CJ
00
The difference is that "It isn't easy" is not a question, it's a statement; while "You don't have the outline?" is a question.
If someone makes a negative statement, you can agree with it using Yes/Yeah,etc. But if it's a negative question, you have to simply state your answer: "No, i don't have it." You don't need to agree with anything.
If someone makes a negative statement, you can agree with it using Yes/Yeah,etc. But if it's a negative question, you have to simply state your answer: "No, i don't have it." You don't need to agree with anything.
00
twistedthistleThe difference is that "It isn't easy" is not a question, it's a statement; while "You don't have the outline?" is a question.So how can this student answer if he/she has the outline? Can we answer "Yes, I have"?
00
Johnson13You don't have the outline?Answer "No, I don't" or "Yes, I do". In the case of "Yes", you can emphasize that you are contradicting the premiss of the question by saying "As a matter of fact, I do" or "On the contrary, I do" instead of just "Yes, I do".
CJ
00
SicaSo how can this student answer if he/she has the outline? Can we answer "Yes, I have"?Pretty much.
A: "You don't have the outline?"
B:"Yeah, I have it."
00
Thanks.
Is the case discussed the same as this one:
A: You hardly know each other?
B:Yes/No, we hardly know each other.
In this conversation, which one should be used? The operative word is HARDLY, because according to tradition in English HARDLY, BARELY, ONLY, etc are considered negators, but I am not sure whether this applies in the conversation; using NO sounds od
Is the case discussed the same as this one:
A: You hardly know each other?
B:Yes/No, we hardly know each other.
In this conversation, which one should be used? The operative word is HARDLY, because according to tradition in English HARDLY, BARELY, ONLY, etc are considered negators, but I am not sure whether this applies in the conversation; using NO sounds od
00
I agree, it does sound odd. I think the reason for this is that "You hardly know each other?" is a declarative question; that is, it has the same grammatical structure as a statement.
If the questions was in the interrogative form "Do you two not know each other very well?" The answer, "No, we don't'" would be quite natural. But i think the temptation with declarative questions is to "agree wi
If the questions was in the interrogative form "Do you two not know each other very well?" The answer, "No, we don't'" would be quite natural. But i think the temptation with declarative questions is to "agree wi
00
twistedthistleA: "You don't have the outline? "B:"Yeah, I have it."But, actually, I've encountered a lot of situations in which native speakers answered "No, I have it" for such kind of questions.. Maybe we can use both? Thanks in advance for your replies.
0
Related Questions