# Is there any difference between si and oui in French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986 "2017-01-23T23:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/21 "2017-01-25T20:15:05Z")
I took French for four years in high school (in Ontario) and have never heard of the “si” usage for “oui.” Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/22 "2017-01-25T20:25:30Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I took French for four years in high school (in Ontario) and have never heard of the “si” usage for “oui.” Hmmm. Wonder if it’s not used in French Canadian or something. It was part of our French lessons, but we learned Continental French (or whatever you want to call it.) It’s not really “si” for “oui,” though. It’s only used in specific cases. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/23 "2017-01-25T20:52:51Z")
What’s worse is in some Indian dialects, “yes” in response to a question doesn’t mean that the answer is yes, it means that the responder heard the question. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/24 "2017-01-25T21:55:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What’s worse is in some Indian dialects, “yes” in response to a question doesn’t mean that the answer is yes, it means that the responder heard the question. A similar thing happens in American English too, although usually with a bit less ambiguity, mostly due to intonation and the like. Then, there’s the “yes, no” phenomenon that some people don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/25 "2017-01-25T21:58:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Hmmm. Wonder if it’s not used in French Canadian or something. It was part of our French lessons, but we learned Continental French (or whatever you want to call it.) It’s not really “si” for “oui,” though. It’s only used in specific cases. The use of “si” as “yes” to a negative question is rare in Québécois French. In those cases, they use “oui” (as in English) unless it’s a particularly formal situation or there’s some particular need to avoid ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/26 "2017-01-25T22:24:19Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > The use of “si” as “yes” to a negative question is rare in Québécois French. In those cases, they use “oui” (as in English) unless it’s a particularly formal situation or there’s some particular need to avoid ambiguity. That explains it. About all we learned about Quebecois French (and I think maybe Swiss French) was their more straightforward numbering nomenclature for words like 70, 80, and 90. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/27 "2017-01-25T22:38:47Z")
Eh? In Canadian French, we use the soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, and quatre-vingt-dix. I was also taught the difference between “oui” and “si” in my little anglo school on the prairies. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/28 "2017-01-25T22:41:17Z")
♫ Oui, nous n’avons pas de bananes, nous n’avons pas de bananes aujourd’hui. ♫ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/29 "2017-01-25T23:13:15Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Eh? In Canadian French, we use the soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, and quatre-vingt-dix. Whoops. Then the Swiss French. Whoever uses the septente, huitante, nonante, etc. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/30 "2017-01-26T00:26:31Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > English definitely did have that distinction, the words were “yea” and “yes”. English still has this distinction. You can’t just answer “yes” to refute a negative statement. You say “yes I do”, “yes he is”, “in fact yes”, or something similar. You’re just using a whole sentence instead of a single word. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/31 "2017-01-26T00:30:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Whoops. Then the Swiss French. Whoever uses the septente, huitante, nonante, etc. In Switzerland and Belgium. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/32 "2017-01-26T02:19:56Z")
I only heard those terms when speaking with a francophone Swiss-Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/33 "2017-01-26T02:36:18Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > While English uses ‘No’ to make the normal agreement with a negative query; Thais may use the Thai equivalent of ‘Yes.’ And Thais speaking English may say ‘Yes’ in those contexts where native English speakers would say ‘No.’ Hilarity ensues. My (mildly autistic) 8-year-old also answers negative questions “backwards” and cannot be persuaded that it is incorrect. Actually, my 12-year-old occasionally does it, too. They have almost managed to condition me and my husband to only ask questions in positive form. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986/34 "2017-01-30T23:26:02Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > and چرا _cherā_ refutes the negative. The word _cherā_ is literally ‘why?’. It’s _che_ ‘what’ + -_rā_ (object suffix). Basically, ‘What for?’ If somebody says a negative clause and you disagree, you say something like “Whatchoo talkin bout, Willis?” It’s natural pragmatics (in the linguistic sense). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-difference-between-si-and-oui-in-french/777986.md?page=1)