# Colloquial French question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 24, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206 "2008-11-24T04:42:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206/1 "2008-11-24T04:42:18Z")

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This weekend we watched "Priceless’ (Hors de Prix?) with Audrey Tautou. We noticed that instead of “oui” there seemed to be a lot of use of the word “si” (as in Spanish/Italian). Was wondering if this is a current trend, or was it particular to the locale? As best I could tell the story took place in Monte Carlo and Nice.

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**Author:** ![paffinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@paffinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paffinity)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206/2 "2008-11-24T04:47:35Z")

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“Si” isn’t colloquial, it’s a positive response to a negative question.

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**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206/3 "2008-11-24T04:57:23Z")

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> [@paffinity](#):
>
> “Si” isn’t colloquial, it’s a positive response to a negative question.

Exactly. So a question “Tu n’as pas faim?” – “You aren’t hungry?” Would be answered “Si, j’ai faim.” – “Yes, I’m hungry.”

Ed

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**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colloquial-french-question/474206/4 "2008-11-24T06:00:45Z")

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FWIW, “si” is used in France, but not in Canada; we just say “oui,” or “mais oui” for emphasis.