Agree to a negative sentence

Question

How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like:

It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture accompanying each as a hint.
Just plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.

Nobuko Iwasaki
(remove the second forte for e-mail)

Usenet · Accepted Answer

iwasaki wrote on 25 Jun 2004:
[nq:1]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like: It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture ... plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
The normal response would be "No, it wouldn't hurt", but to be on the safe side, I would recommend "{You're right. / I agree.} It wouldn't hurt."

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like: It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture ... plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
I know it's difficult to get your head round if you're from a different culture, but, in English, "no" is definitely the correct way to express agreement with a negative.
- He's not coming then?
- No (he's not).
In other words, in the case of agreement, the reply mirrors the original statement. This is logical, we think, and I believe it is.

(It's bad style, though, to ask negative questions.)

Adrian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like: It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture ... plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
With additional redundancy. My positive response would be something like "No, it probably wouldn't", or at least "Yes, let's do that". I wouldn't feel safe with just "yes" or "no" either.
David Dyer-Bennet, , RKBA: Pics: Dragaera/Steven Brust:

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like: It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture ... plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
This is a difficult area in English. Negative questions show the problem more often.
A: Don't you want a cup of tea?
B: No.
Should A give a cup of tea to B? If A is a native speaker then he probably won't but if he were not a native and took the words too literally then he may give the tea to A.
Did B want the tea? If he was a native speaker then he probably does not want it. A non-native may want it.
I have seen this problem frequently in the Far East. I now never ask negative questions there, there is too much danger for confusion. When answering, I do give my usual native (but admittedly illogical) answer but followed with a short phrase to make it clearer. So to the above, I may answer:
No, I don't want one.
Yes, I do want one.
Even among native speakers, simple Yes and No answers are not common.

No, I don't.
Yes, I do.
Are more common.
Back to the original question and answer. It seems that B strips any negatives from the question and then answers the bare question. A puts in a negative or not according to the answer that he expects. Oddly, the negative question seems to be used most often when the questioner expects a positive answer (to the bare question).

As a mathematician, this feature of my own language upsets me but I don't attempt to fight a one man battle against it. In a serious maths discussion, more logical answers would be normal.

I have said native speaker at a few points but maybe I should have said British. Would other native speakers answer these questions in the same way?
Also, I am not a qualified linguist so everything above could be wrong.
Seán O'Leathlóbhair

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence ... because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
[nq:1]I know it's difficult to get your head round if you're from a different culture, but, in English, "no" is ... the case of agreement, the reply mirrors the original statement. This is logical, we think, and I believe it is.[/nq]
The problem, since we have no word like French 'si' or German 'doch', is when you want to answer 'yes', and there's no way to do this without adding more words, eg "(Oh) yes, he is."

Rob Bannister

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]How should I express an agreement to a negative sentence like: It probably wouldn't hurt to have a hand gesture ... plain "No" wouldn't be ambiguious? I'm always confused with this, because "Yes" would work in Japanese in such a case.[/nq]
This is a source of ambiguity in English that routinely leads to misunderstanding and either anger or hilarity among native speakers. You must clarify your answer, "No, it wouldn't hurt", or "Yes, you're right", or something like that. The question asker will always misunderstand you if you do not.
Jon Miller

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The problem, since we have no word like French 'si' or German 'doch', is when you want to answer 'yes', and there's no way to do this without adding more words, eg "(Oh) yes, he is."[/nq]
"True" or "Right" would be unambiguous single-word responses.

Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"True" or "Right" would be unambiguous single-word responses.[/nq]
How about "Certainly", "Definitely", "Surely", "Probably", or "Of course" to a negative sentence? It should be "Certainly not", "Definitely not", "Surely not", "Probably not", or "Of course not" when you agree?

Nobuko Iwasaki

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"True" or "Right" would be unambiguous single-word responses.[/nq]
[nq:1]How about "Certainly", "Definitely", "Surely", "Probably", or "Of course" to a negative sentence? It should be "Certainly not", "Definitely not", "Surely not", "Probably not", or "Of course not" when you agree?[/nq]
I can't remember the original example. If I said "I don't think that's very good pizza" and you responded "Right", I'd take it that you were agreeing with me. But "Certainly not", etc, would also, in our strange idiomatic world, indicate agreement.
Hmm .. that's not a very good example, though, because a simple "No" would do just as well.

Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The problem, since we have no word like French 'si' ... this without adding more words, eg "(Oh) yes, he is."[/nq]
[nq:1]"True" or "Right" would be unambiguous single-word responses.[/nq]
I'll accept 'Right', but in the example: "He's not coming, then?", the answer "True" come across to me as either humorous or sarcastic, depending on the tone of voice.

Rob Bannister

Agree to a negative sentence

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