266 - YES. I mean, NO. Wait, YES!
I'm about to teach something that I am terrible at in Japanese.
Like most mistakes that I repeat, it's not particularly complicated to say the right thing.
Rather, it's so simple that the incorrect English way of thinking is hard-wired into my brain.
I'm talking about answering yes or no questions.
It's a nightmare.
Consider a conversation like this in English:
A: You don't drink alcohol?
B: No, not at all.
Two important things to note here:
1) Person A is making a negative question.
2) Person B says NO in agreement with A's sentence.
Long story short, Person B does NOT drink alcohol.
If that illogical dialogue in English makes sense to you, then you're going to hate Japanese.
Because their logical answers are the opposite of English:
A:
お酒飲まないの？
おさけ のまない の？
You don't drink alcohol?
B:
うん、ぜんぜん。
= YEAH, + not at all.
If I were translating that into English, I'd write, "No, not at all." But the actual Japanese is saying "Yeah, not at all."
Although it makes my brain hurt, I have to admit that the Japanese makes more sense than the English from a logical perspective. The more I think about it, the English makes almost no sense at all. It's a random mishmash of yes-no's spit out with reckless abandon.
Here's a quick breakdown:
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Japanese Answers to Negative Yes-No Questions
Question: You don't ～? // Aren't you ~? // Don't you ~? // etc.
Answer #1: YES, I don't ～.
Answer #2: NO, I do ~.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Don't worry if it takes you a long time to get the hang of this. I first learned about the negative question nightmare years ago, and I still mess it up from time to time.
In particular, the last question from this lesson still makes my head spin.
Not to mention, while translating these I started getting confused about how to answer these questions in English--my native language!
As a refresher, I checked out this video. It helped me get my head straight, and it also made me realize that we use negative questions in English when we are surprised by something or expecting a certain answer. Also, English answers are not consistent.
Consider this:
A: You can't eat shellfish?
B: No, I'm allergic. // Yeah, I'm allergic.
Either answer is fine in English. The important thing is that there is clarification after the yes or no answer.
It is also common to clarify in Japanese, but in Japanese there are specific rules for whether you use "yes" or "no:"
You can answer with just:
"yes" when you agree with the negative question, or
"no" when you disagree with the negative question.
Enough explanations. I hardly understand them myself.
Go time...
Yes-No Quiz of Despair
I'll give you a question and an answer in Japanese.
However! I'll leave out one word: Yes, or no.
Well, not "yes" or "no," but rather the casual Japanese equivalents "うん" (=yeah) and "ううん" (=no).
Good luck.
Question #1
A:
まだ歯磨いてない？
まだ は みがいてない？
You haven't brushed your teeth yet?
Literally: "still + teeth + have not polished?"
B: うん or ううん？
？？？、もう磨いたよ。
？？？、 もう みがいた よ。
？？？, I already brushed them.
Literally: "？？？, + already + polished + よ."
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Translation:
ううん、もう磨いたよ。
ううん、 もう みがいた よ。
No, I already brushed them.
Literally: "no, + already + polished + よ."
Question #2
A:
運動好きじゃないの？
うんどう すき じゃない の？
You don't like exercising?
Literally: "exercise + liked + is not + の？"
B: うん or ううん？
？？？、好きだよ。
？？？、 すき だよ。
？？？, I do.
Literally: "？？？, + liked + だよ."
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Translation:
ううん、好きだよ。
ううん、 すき だよ。
No, I do. // Yeah, I do.
Literally: "no, + liked + だよ."
Question #3
A:
「エクレア」って英語じゃないよね？
「エクレア」 って えいご じゃない よね？
"Eclair" is not an English word, right?
Literally: "eclair + って + English + is not + よね？"
B: うん or ううん？
？？？、たぶん。フランス語だと思う。
？？？、 たぶん。 フランスご だ と おもう。
？？？, probably not. I think it's French.
Literally: "？？？, + probably. + French + is + と + think."
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Translation:
うん、たぶん。フランス語だと思う。
うん、 たぶん。 フランスご だ と おもう。
No, probably not. I think it's French. // Yeah, probably not. I think it's French.
Literally: "yeah, + probably. + French + is + と + think."
Question #4
A:
そんなに起きてて眠くないの？
そんなに おきてて ねむくない の？
Aren't you tired from staying up for so long? // You're not tired from being up for so long?
Literally: "that much + are being awake (and) + not sleepy + の？"
B: うん or ううん？
？？？、へーきへーき。
？？？、 へーき へーき。
？？？, I'm totally fine. // No, I'm totally fine.
Literally: "？？？, + not a problem + not a problem."
Note: In kanji, へーき is 平気.
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Translation:
うん、へーきへーき。
うん、 へーき へーき。
Yeah, I'm totally fine. // No, I'm totally fine.
Literally: "Yeah, + not a problem + not a problem."
Note: In kanji, へーき is 平気.
Question #5
Now, finally, for the question of doom.
Good luck, friend...
Quick Note: For the verb 似合う (にあう) below, we could use translations like "to suit (someone); to match." I'm using "to look good on (someone)," though, as it's often how I translate this word, and it works well for this explanation.
A:
あたしこのスカート似合ってなくない？
あたし この スカート にあってなくない？
Don't you think this skirt doesn't look good on me?
Literally: "I + this + skirt + is not looking good on me, isn't it?"
Note: 似合ってる would be "is looking good on me." 似合ってない would be "is not looking good on me." But adding an an extra ない at the end makes it 似合ってなくない？ "is not looking good on me, isn't it?" Ugh. Kill me.
B: うん or ううん？
？？？、超似合ってるよ！
？？？、 ちょう にあってる よ！
？？？, it looks great on you.
Literally: "？？？, + super- + is looking good on you + よ."
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Translation:
ううん、超似合ってるよ！
ううん、 ちょう にあってる よ！
No, it looks great on you.
Literally: "no, + super- + is looking good on you + よ."
That's all.
Sorry if I confused you. Take solace in knowing that I confused myself, too.
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