# why does French have two ways to say "yes"? do other languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227 "2008-11-24T08:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 24, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/1 "2008-11-24T08:54:43Z")
**ShibbOleth’s** thread ([Colloquial French Question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=494424)) reminded me of a question I was meaning to ask: why does French have two ways to say “yes”? There’s “oui”, which is used almost all of the time. There’s also “si”, which is used to respond affirmatively to a negative question. To illustrate: if you’re asked a question like: “have you been here before?” and you have, the response would be “oui.” But if you’re asked: “you’ve not been here before, have you?” the response is “si”. I’m just curious why there are the two different responses, based solely on the way the question is phrased. Also, do other romance languages have this pattern? ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/2 "2008-11-24T08:56:23Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/3 "2008-11-24T09:01:11Z")
In German “ja” means yes. But you respond to a negative question by saying “doch”, which means, roughly, “on the contrary.” I.e.: “You haven’t been here before, have you?” “_Doch_, I have been here.” ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/4 "2008-11-24T09:06:55Z")
Icelandic is the same, and Swedish as well. Já/Ja means yes, but jú/jo would be doch/si. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/5 "2008-11-24T09:08:25Z")
There are a lot of ways to say yes in English. Why wouldn’t this be true of any other language? ---
**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:** [November 24, 2008, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/6 "2008-11-24T09:15:03Z")
there’s lots of synonyms for yes, like “yeah”, but I’m not aware of a synonym that is only used in response to a negative question? so it seems from initial responses that this pattern isn’t unique to French. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/7 "2008-11-24T09:18:39Z")
Chinese doesn’t have a single word to indicate “yes”. Instead, it depends on the situation. If somebody asks you in Chinese, “ **have** you been there?” (_ **you mei you** qu guo neige difang ?_), you’d answer “ **have** ” (_you_). If somebody asks, “ **Are** you a foreigner?” (_Ni **shi** waiguoren ma?_), you’d answer “ **am** ” (_shi_). If somebody asks, “Does it **‘feel’** cold outside?” (_Waimian **hui** leng ma?_), you’d answer “ **feels** ” (_hui_). If somebody asks, “Have [you] eaten **([your] fill)**?” (_ **chi bao le** ma?_), you’d answer “**eaten [my] fill**” (_chi bao le_). (A common greeting/response when you first see an acquaintance that day.) And 10,000 other variations. ETA: The nearest approximation to “yes” would translate more or less as “correct” (_dui_), but it isn’t really used the same way as our all-purpose “yes”. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/8 "2008-11-24T09:23:19Z")
The English version of doch/si would be: “You haven’t been here before, have you?” “Sure, I have been here.” “Why yes, I _have_ been here.” “Yes, I have.” So, still a form of yes, and the meaning is communicated in the inflection and emphasis. Dutch has “ja” voor yes and some variations on “jawel” (_yes-sure_) or “toch wel” (_but yes_). ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/9 "2008-11-24T09:23:24Z")
In Polish, “tak” means yes. But if the person you’re speaking with agrees with what you’re saying, or just wants to acknowledge they’re listening, they may say “no” repeatedly while you’re speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/10 "2008-11-24T09:26:01Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The English version of doch/si would be: > “You haven’t been here before, have you?” > > “Sure, I have been here.” > “Why yes, I _have_ been here.” > “Yes, I have.” > > So, still a form of yes, and the meaning is communicated in the inflection and emphasis. > > Dutch has “ja” voor yes and some variations on “jawel” (_yes-sure_) or “toch wel” (_but yes_). The problem is, in English you have to add the explanation to make your meaning clear. In German, you can just say, “Doch,” and it is quite clear that you mean to contradict the premise of the question. In English, if you respond to the above question by simply saying, “Yes,” the answer is (to my ear) ambiguous. It would be nice if English had a word that served this particular function. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/11 "2008-11-24T09:49:03Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > The problem is, in English you have to add the explanation to make your meaning clear. In German, you can just say, “Doch,” and it is quite clear that you mean to contradict the premise of the question. In English, if you respond to the above question by simply saying, “Yes,” the answer is (to my ear) ambiguous. It would be nice if English had a word that served this particular function. Ah, I see. Well, in that case, Dutch doesn’t have such a word either. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/12 "2008-11-24T11:51:56Z")
A question like “Why does language A have a given grammatical, vocabulary, or phonological form?” is generally impossible to answer. All languages have idiosyncratic grammatical forms which aren’t found in most other languages. Sometimes they have grammatical forms that aren’t found in any other language. The forms which yes/no answers take in the languages of the world are one example of this. I don’t know if anyone has done a survey of the world’s languages, but it might in fact be less typical for a language to have only one word for yes and one word for no in the way that English does. A language is structured the way it is, and there’s no deep reason for it. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/13 "2008-11-24T12:01:04Z")
Arabic has ‘aiwa’ and ‘naam’ which both mean ‘yes’ but I’m not sure if there is any difference in nuance, or whether one is colloquial and the other is classical. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/14 "2008-11-24T13:45:39Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > The problem is, in English you have to add the explanation to make your meaning clear. In German, you can just say, “Doch,” and it is quite clear that you mean to contradict the premise of the question. In English, if you respond to the above question by simply saying, “Yes,” the answer is (to my ear) ambiguous. It would be nice if English had a word that served this particular function. Actually, English does have such a word. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/15 "2008-11-24T14:17:59Z")
which is? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/16 "2008-11-24T14:20:44Z")
Call me crazy, but I was always pretty sure that in French, _si_ means “if.” ---
**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:** [November 24, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/17 "2008-11-24T14:28:16Z")
that’s another meaning for “si”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/18 "2008-11-24T14:33:37Z")
Spanish doesn’t have an equivalent of the French “si,” which actually leads to some very confusing responses. “Have you been here?” Sí. (Yes I have) “You hadn’t been here before, right?” No, sí. Eeeeh, digo, ¡que sí que había estado! (No, yes. Eeeeh, I mean, yes I had been!) If someone asks the second question and the answer is yes, people often have to reask “yes you had not been here or yes you had been here?” ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/19 "2008-11-24T14:36:38Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > In Polish, “tak” means yes. But if the person you’re speaking with agrees with what you’re saying, or just wants to acknowledge they’re listening, they may say “no” repeatedly while you’re speaking. Huh? or am I the only one who thinks this is just a litte confusing? (and how would you translate in the Polish the old feminist slogan: “what part of NO didn’t you understand?”) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227/20 "2008-11-24T14:37:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Spanish doesn’t have an equivalent of the French “si,” which actually leads to some very confusing responses. > > “Have you been here?” Sí. (Yes I have) > “You hadn’t been here before, right?” No, sí. Eeeeh, digo, ¡que sí que había estado! (No, yes. Eeeeh, I mean, yes I had been!) > > If someone asks the second question and the answer is yes, people often have to reask “yes you had not been here or yes you had been here?” What about Catalan? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-french-have-two-ways-to-say-yes-do-other-languages/474227.md?page=2)