Negative Yes/No Questions

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Responding to a Negative Question: Agreeing.  In most languages, when people agree with a negative question, they say “yes” because they’re thinking, “Yes.  That’s true.”  They are agreeing with the speaker.  However, in English, the answer is “no”.  English speakers agree with the situation.  Here is an example when someone is trying to make an appointment:

Q:  You don’t have anything earlier?

A:  No.

After this “no”, it’s possible to add either a short answer or the correct information.  Here is an example:

Q:  You don’t have anything earlier?

A:  No, we don’t.

OR:

A: No, I’m afraid we don’t.

A: No, I’m sorry.  We don’t.

A:  No.  That’s the only opening we have.

 

This is a difficult language function for most ESL students, but it’s an important one to understand if you want to avoid the confusion and frustration of conversations like this:

 

Native English speaker: Nonnative English speaker: Native English speaker: Nonnative English speaker: Native English speaker: Nonnative English speaker: Native English speaker:   *Not possible grammar in English.

You don’t have one? Yes. Oh, you do have one? No. Oh, you mean you don’t have one? Yes, I don’t.* Excuse me???

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Here are more explanations and examples of negative questions in English.