negative questions

[rickdi]

My post related to Tarheel, sry for the confusion.

 

[rickdi]

But somehow I am totally confused now. The question why I ask is that I have read the following 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.


I wonder about B's last sentence "But yeah they're not the same.". Doesn't it have to be "But no they're not the same."? Or is B telling A that they are the same?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yeah thank you, I got it. But it is still a mystery to me why it does not make a difference if B (Beth) says " No,..." or "Yeah,...". So it confuses me that answering with "No" and "Yeah" has the same meaning.

They're answers to two different questions:

- The answer to "Are they the same person?" is no.
- The answer to "Am I right?" is yes.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

But that isn't a negative question. Let's take my examples. A asks a negative question. B1 and B2 are possible answers with the same meaning. B1 begins with "Yeah,.." and B2 begins with "No,...". How can the meaning still be the same? I learned that you agree with a negative question with "No" and you disagree with "Yes/Yeah", but in my example " No" and "Yeah" have the same meaning.

A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah they are not the same person.
B2: No they are not the same person.

Both are saying they aren't the same person. So it's the same answer either way. So they DO mean the same thing.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . . In this sort of (theoretically) unscripted dialogue, words come out as people think of ideas. More careful speech, or writing, might lead to a 'No, they are not the same'. . . .

Yes. That's why I said that "No" would be more literally correct.

 

[rickdi]

Thank you, now I understand it.

The only question left is the following part here:

I wrote:

But it is still a mystery to me why it does not make a difference if B (Beth) says " No,..." or "Yeah,...". So it confuses me that answering with "No" and "Yeah" has the same meaning.

Tarheel answered:

Well, this is certainly possible. Here:
A: Are we talking about the same person?
B: No, we are not.

I don't understand this. Especially in this example you can only answer with "No" and not with "yeah"?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

An old boss of mine used to say: Don't sweat the small stuff.

So don't get hung up on all these side issues. You'll make yourself crazy. Instead, let's go back to your original question:

A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = Yes. I AGREE WITH YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. They are two different people.
B2: No they are not the same person. = No, they are NOT the same person. You're right.

Here's the thing to remember - in ANY language:

What matters is not what you SAY, it's what others HEAR.

- If B hears A asking for agreement, B will say yes.

- If B hears A asking for information, B will say no.

Simple.

 

[rickdi]

let's go back to your original question:

A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = Yes. I AGREE WITH YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. They are two different people.
B2: No they are not the same person. = No, they are NOT the same person. You're right.

K, thank you, I think I understood it now completely. One last question, it may sound stupid, but I just want to be 100% safe:
To B you say "You Are Right. They are two different people." and to B2 you say "They are Not the same person. You're right." but that means the same? So you can also say:
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = You are right. They are not the same person.
B2: No they are not the same person. = They are not the same person. You are right.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yes. Exactly. That's a great way to look at it. You're there! Well done.

 

[rickdi]

Thank you! :up:

A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = Yes. I AGREE WITH YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. They are two different people.
B2: No they are not the same person. = No, they are NOT the same person. You're right.

But is there a reason why you wrote to B "They are two different people." and to B2 "They are not the same person"?
I would think "They are two different people." = "They are not the same person".

 

[Tarheel]

Thank you! :up:


But is there a reason why you wrote to B "They are two different people." and to B2 "They are not the same person"?
I would think "They are two different people." = "They are not the same person".

That is right. Those two sentences mean the same thing. (Please say "I understand it now" and not the other one ("I understood it.").)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Okay, okay, okay! My last words on the subject:

B: Yeah, they are not the same person. = Yes. I agree with you. They are not the same person.
B2: No, they are not the same person. = No. They are no the same person. I agree with you.

Tarheel is always right.

 

[rickdi]

Thank you for your help!

Tarheel is always right.

Related to what? This seems a bit out of context?

 

[rickdi]

Well, after having slept on it for a night that other stuff seems unimportant. Let me just ask one final question to see if I really understood this difficult topic.


A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah they are not the same person.
B2: No they are not the same person

B1 and B2 have the same meaning. Both answers (B1 and B2) have the meaning: "Correct. They are not the same person. They are two different people."

Correct? Maybe you can quote my answer, cause I am not sure if you can see the new edited version.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. Fix your punctuation.

2. Are you asking whether they mean the same thing? We've answered that.

 

[rickdi]

1. Fix your punctuation.

Oh, Sorry! you mean the comma, don't you?

2. Are you asking whether they mean the same thing? We've answered that.

Yeah, I know you answered that.
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah, they are not the same person.
B2: No, they are not the same person.

I just want to know now if in this example both answers (B1 and B2) have the meaning: "Correct. They are not the same person. They are two different people."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

You can solve this. Are two different people the same person?

 

[rickdi]

Uhm yeah I know that two different people are not the same person.

I am just unsure if in this example both answers (B1 and B2) have the meaning: "Correct. They are not the same person. They are two different people.":
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah, they are not the same person.
B2: No, they are not the same person.

Can someone please answer this?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm sure someone can, but it looks like it's not this boy. Sorry I couldn't be more help!

 

[rickdi]

Ok, still thank you Charlie.


What about the others? That's the question:
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah, they are not the same person.
B2: No, they are not the same person.

I want to know now if in this example both answers (B1 and B2) have the meaning: "Correct. They are not the same person. They are two different people."