Agreeing with Negative Statements

[radeo23]

Hi,
you agree negative questions with "no":
-You are not at home?
-No, I am not at home. I am outside.

But how do you agree with negative statements? I have read somewhere in a forum that you can also agree with Yes?
-Maria is not home today.
- Yes. She's not home today.

Is this possible?

 

[Barb_D]

Please see below.

You are not at home?
-No, I am not at home. I am at the grocery store. ("Outside" in your own yard would be still be "at home.")
- Yes I am. -- This means you are home.


Maria is not home today.
- No, she's away for the weekend.
- Yes she is. -- Meaning, yes, she is at home.

Sometimes more complex statement are made, like "I thought..." or "He said that..." regarding a negative statement. Move variation in the answers might exist.

He said she wasn't home on Tuesday nights.
- That's right. She's not.
- Yes [he was correct], she goes bowling.
- Yes [he was correct], usually, but this week she's home with a cold.
- No [she isn't home]. But she'll be here tomorrow night (Wednesday).
- No [he is wrong about that] - she bowls on Wednesdays, and is usually home on Tuesdays.

In those cases, a simple "yes" or "no" won't be enough information.

 

[GoesStation]

Some languages make answers to negative questions clear. English doesn't, though, so it's up to you to make your answer unambiguous.

Aren't you coming with us?
Yes, I am.

Maria isn't home today? (This must be asked in a rising tone. It's for spoken English only.)
No, she's not./Yes, she is.

 

[Rover_KE]

Also being answered here.

 

[radeo23]

But somehow I think I need more help. Let's say B knows that Maria is not at home and she is in Italy:

Question:
A: Maria is not at home?
B: No, she's not at home. She's in Italy.

Is this the correct answer?


Statement:
A: Maria is not home today.
B: Yes. She's not home today. She's in Italy.

Is this possible with "yes"? I mean A doesn't ask a question, A and B both make a statement.

 

[GoesStation]

There is no hard-and-fast rule, as far as I know. I would answer yes to a negative question only if I were contradicting the question, as in Yes, she is (home). I just saw her go inside. It would sound to answer Yes, she's not home.

 

[radeo23]

Ok thank you. The reason I ask is because in another forum I wanted to know the meaning of the last answer "No they aren't" in this conversation:
Bryan: Is that an old photo of your friend?
Cathy: No.
Bryan: Okay, I always need to think about that person on the picture, who I thought was your friend. But they are not the same then.
Cathy (looks closer): No they aren't.

Someone answered: The NO means that Cathy agrees with the idea that they are not the same person. While it should have been, "Yes", sometimes people say No to mean they are in agreement with the negative statement. The "they aren't" also means agreement that they are not the same person.

Is the answer wrong? But is his interpretation that Cathy agrees with the idea that they are not the same person right? Or is everything in his answer wrong?

 

[Barb_D]

Statement:
A: Maria is not home today.
B: Yes. She's not home today. She's in Italy.

Is this possible with "yes"? I mean A doesn't ask a question, A and B both make a statement.

Anything is possible, but most native speakers would say "No, she's not home today. She's in Italy."
If you wanted to show you were agreeing with A, you'd say something like "Right. She's in Italy." You'd use "right" to agree, not "yes."

As Goes said, you'd use "Yes" to contradict the person. "Yes, she is."

Bryan:But they are not the same then.
Cathy (looks closer): No they aren't.

Someone answered: The NO means that Cathy agrees with the idea that they are not the same person. Agreed.
While it should have been, "Yes", Disagree. It should NOT have been "Yes." Native speakers don't use "Yes" that way.
sometimes people say No to mean they are in agreement with the negative statement. Mostly disagree. Almost always, not "sometimes" - we aren't using "no" to agree, we are using "no" to CONFIRM the negative statement.
The "they aren't" also means agreement that they are not the same person. Yes, that's exactly what the first sentence says.

Is the answer wrong? But is his interpretation that Cathy agrees with the idea that they are not the same person right? Or is everything in his answer wrong?

Regardless of whether it's a statement or question and regardless of whether it's phrased in the negative or positive:
A: Jane is home.
or
A: Jane isn't home?
B: Yes, she is. (When Jane is home)
B: No, she is not. (When Jane isn't home.)

Ah, so it's the same person after all?
Ah, so they are different people?

Yes, it is the same person.
No, it is a different person.

Do not worry about agreeing with the person's belief. Answer in a way that tells what the actual situation is.

 

[Barb_D]

Please do not create multiple user IDs. Please delete one of them. If you don't, a moderator will.

Thank you.

 

[radeo23]

The "they aren't" also means agreement that they are not the same person. Yes, that's exactly what the first sentence says.

Which first sentence do you mean? Can you quote it?

And sorry for the two accounts, I forgot the username, but when I just used another computer I saw i was still logged in. I will delete this account after my question is solved and only use the other one.

 

[Tarheel]

Don't forget that in in real life everything has a context. If two people who know each other are talking to each other there is usually not much confusion. And if there is any confusion they generally sort it out.

 

[Tarheel]

We solve problems. We answer questions.

 

[Tdol]

Statement:
A: Maria is not home today.
B: Yes. She's not home today. She's in Italy.

Is this possible with "yes"?

It doesn't work for me. You could use something like That's right.

 

[Tdol]

Please do not create multiple user IDs. Please delete one of them. If you don't, a moderator will.

I have done some tidying up. One account has been shut down, this one has been put into moderation, and two accounts not yet opened banned. I remember we had a similar thing with negative questions last year. I think it's a troll.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have temporarily reopened this thread in order to shut down the two ongoing threads in the Support Area. The OP has been made aware that he/she has one opportunity to ask one, simple, clear question in order to clear up this issue and that as soon as one person definitively tells him/her what is meant by the answer to the negative question in the forum regarding "Cathy", this thread will again be closed.

 

[radeo23]

Okay, thank you very much for all your help


To Barb, you and the others:

1. question:
The conversation (please read it without any background info):
Bryan (sending a low resolution photo): Is that an old photo of your friend?
Cathy: No, but can you send me a larger picture?
Bryan (sending a higher resolution of the photo): Okay, I always need to think about that person on the picture, who I thought was your friend. But they are not the same then.
Cathy (looks closer): No they aren't.

In this conversation Cathy's last statement "No they aren't." has the meaning:
"My friend and the person in that picture are two different people. They are not the same person.", correct?


2. question:
Conversation:
B: (...)
A: Do you mean this serious or ironical? But if you say you mean it serious that my James isn't your James I'm happy.
B: Serious man. And if you've only been in the USA one year you never would've meet my James. But yeah they're not the same.

In this conversation B's last statement "But yeah they're not the same." has the meaning:
"My James and your James are two different people. They are not the same person.", correct? But why does he say "But yeah" and not "But no", cause I would guess this is a negative question that you can agree with "no" and not with "yeah"?

 

[emsr2d2]

The simplest way to read the responses is to remove the words "No" and "Yeah" from them. That way, you are left with (Q1) "They aren't" which clearly agrees with "They are not the same", and (Q2) "They're not the same" which agrees with "my James isn't your James".

 

[radeo23]

Seems understandable to me. But to question 1...
Conversation:
Bryan (sending a low resolution photo): Is that an old photo of your friend?
Cathy: No, but can you send me a larger picture?
Bryan (sending a higher resolution of the photo): Okay, I always need to think about that person on the picture, who I thought was your friend. But they are not the same then.
Cathy (looks closer): No they aren't.

You mean "No they aren't" agrees with "They are not the same", so I would think Cathy's last statement "No they aren't." has the meaning:
"My friend and the person in that picture are two different people. They are not the same person.", but in another forum I was told I can't say that. Unfortunately he didn't explain it any further. Or is this wrong and Cathy's last statement "No they aren't." has the meaning:
"My friend and the person in that picture are two different people. They are not the same person."?

 

[GoesStation]

2. question:
Conversation:
B: (...)
A: Do you mean this serious or ironical? But if you say you mean it serious that my James isn't your James I'm happy.
B: Serious man. And if you've only been in the USA one year you never would've meet my James. But yeah they're not the same.

In this conversation B's last statement "But yeah they're not the same." has the meaning:
"My James and your James are two different people. They are not the same person.", correct? But why does he say "But yeah" and not "But no", cause I would guess this is a negative question that you can agree with "no" and not with "yeah"?

B has left something unsaid. He meant But yeah[, you're right,] they're not the same.

 

[Raymott]

"Do you have no bananas?"
http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNOBANAN;ttNOBANAN.html

[A sort of satire on the current problem]