nay, aye

[Tinkerbell]

Which usage is correct? She finds out that he is an English and pleased with it and thought to herself:

Nay, he is an English!

Aye, he is an English.

 

[emsr2d2]

Which usage is correct? She finds out that he is an English and pleased with it and thought to herself:

Nay, he is an English!

Aye, he is an English.

Neither "Nay" nor "Aye" really makes sense, unless there is some other context we are missing which would explain why she was using rather outdated terms for "no" and "yes". We also don't say "an English". We say "He is English" or "He is an Englishman".

 

[Tdol]

Why do you want to use nay/aye? They would both sound strange, and neither works here IMO.

 

[a_vee]

Yeah, nay and aye are extremely outdated.
If the girl is disagreeing with her previous opinion:

No, he's English (or "an Englishman").

If the girl is receiving confirmation of her previous opinion:

Yes, he's English (or "an Englishman").

 

[Tinkerbell]

Sorry, I did a mistake. I'm asking for an exclamation refers to Wow, wonderful, moreover, furthermore.

 

[a_vee]

Sorry, I did a mistake. I'm asking for an exclamation refers to Wow, wonderful, moreover, furthermore.

We make mistakes-you made a mistake.

An exclamation that is similar to "wow" and rhymes with aye and nay is "yea". As an exclamation, this expression is quite informal. It is almost equal to "hooray",:-? but I may be totally confused about what you are asking now.

 

[Rover_KE]

In many BE dialects, 'aye (pronounced eye) and 'nay' – for yes and no – are alive and well.

Compare the AE equivalents 'yeah' and 'nah'.

Rover

 

[birdeen's call]

We make mistakes-you made a mistake.

An exclamation that is similar to "wow" and rhymes with aye and nay is "yea". As an exclamation, this expression is quite informal. It is almost equal to "hooray",:-? but I may be totally confused about what you are asking now.

"Yea" is as outdated as "nay" when it means yes. Are you talking about "yay"? I think some people do use the spelling "yea" for "yay", but no dictionary I know does.

 

[charliedeut]

In many BE dialects, 'aye (pronounced eye) and 'nay' – for yes and no – are alive and well.

Compare the AE equivalents 'yeah' and 'nah'.

Rover

Hi Rover,

I had only seen these expressions used in certain literary/poetic contexts, as well as in Parliamentary votes. I didn't think they were still in use anywhere else. But I was wrong, methinks ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

"Yea" is as outdated as "nay" when it means yes. Are you talking about "yay"? I think some people do use the spelling "yea" for "yay", but no dictionary I know does.

This is just what I was thinking. I use "yay" as an alternative to "Hurrah!" It has become much more common in BrE in the last few years. I use it both in written and spoken English, though not in formal situations.

 

[Tinkerbell]

I think the word which I was searching was "yay" but also it may be not. So I give you more information about my context.

Ella is a Dutch girl and one day when she was leaning of a ship's deck railings, she sees a pair of dolphins which jumping out of waters in the distance. She immediately shuts her eyes and makes a wish, because she believes in seeing dolphins brings good luck. She wishes "I hope one day I'll meet a handsome Englishman, marry with him and live in England."

When her eyes still shut, she hears a man's voice who says her "Hello."

When she openes her eyes and looks at her side, she sees a goodlooking young man and she thinks to herself "What a handsome man." And when the young man continue the speaking to her with English accent, she thinks to herself: "Yay (or moreover) he's English!" Maybe her wish already was starting to come true.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think "Yay" would fit if you want it to show her pleasure and excitement at the fact that he is English. It does mean "moreover" though. She would be able to think "Yay! Not only is he handsome but, moreover, he's English!"