\u25a0In English<\/strong>
Question: Are<\/span> you hungry?
Answer: No<\/span>, I am not (hungry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Question: Aren’t<\/span> you hungry? In English, you answer with “Yes” if your answer is affirmative, and “No” if your answer is negative. So regardless of whether the question is in the affirmative or negative, your answer is the same. It’s pretty simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, let’s look at how to answer in Japanese. If the question is an affirmative sentence, Japanese way is the same as English way. You answer “\u306f\u3044” for Yes and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” for No. Therefore, if you are hungry, the answer would be “\u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u304a\u8179\u304c\u7a7a\u3044\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, onaka ga suiteimasu) (Yes<\/span>, I am hungry).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the question is a negative sentence, the answer is as follows<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question: \u304a\u8179\u306f\u3059\u3044\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f(Onaka ga suitenaidesuka<\/span>?) (Aren’t<\/span> you hungry?) “\u306f\u3044” and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” are reversed from “Yes” and “No” in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Japanese, “\u306f\u3044” and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” to a question do not indicate whether your answer is affirmative or negative, but whether you agree with the question. You say “\u306f\u3044” when you agree with the question and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” when you do not. When you are asked “Aren’t you hungry?” and you are not hungry, you agree with the question, so you answer “\u306f\u3044.” If you are hungry, you do not agree with the question, so you answer “\u3044\u3044\u3048.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s look at another example of a question<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question; \u3082\u3046\u98df\u3079\u306a\u3044\u306e\u3067\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f(Mou tabenainodesuka<\/span>?) (Are you not going to eat <\/span>anymore?) Question: \u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f(Mondai wa naidesuka<\/span>?) (Don’t you have<\/span> any problem?) It is a little complicated, but remember that “\u306f\u3044” and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” are reversed from “Yes” and “No” in English only in the case of negative questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese often use negative questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uff11\uff0e\u3053\u306e\u7537\u3092\u898b\u3066\u307e\u305b\u3093\u304b\uff1f (Kono otoko wo mitesenka?) (Haven’t you seen this man?) In English, it is common to ask questions like the following, isn’t it? (I know this sentence is negative too) It is not clear why negative questions are so common in Japanese, but it may be because Japanese people want to make things ambiguous or to lessen the shock of a negative answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is an expression used by young Japanese people, “\u826f\u304f\u306a\u304f\u306a\u3044\uff1f (Yoku naku nai?)” This expression is composed of three adjectives “\u826f\u304f (Yoku)” meaning Good, “\u306a\u304f (naku)” meaning Not, and “\u306a\u3044 (nai)” also meaning Not. As mentioned above, negative questions are often asked in Japanese, and you might sometimes answer “\u306f\u3044” and “\u3044\u3044\u3048” backwards. However, it is OK to mistake “\u306f\u3044” and “\u3044\u3044\u3048”. However, remember to follow your answer with “\u306f\u3044” or “\u3044\u3044\u3048.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question: \u79c1\u3068\u6620\u753b\u306b\u884c\u304d\u305f\u304f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f(Watashi to eiga ni ikitakunaidesuka<\/span>?) (Don’t you want to go<\/span> to the movie with me?) If you want to go to the movie, it is no problem to answer “\u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u884c\u304d\u305f\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, ikitaidesu) (Yes<\/span>, I want to go).” However, if you end with only “\u306f\u3044,” the person who asked you the question will think that you don’t want to go, so be sure to follow up with “\u884c\u304d\u305f\u3044\u3067\u3059 (I want to go).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question: \u51b7\u8535\u5eab\u306b\u3042\u3063\u305f\u79c1\u306e\u30d7\u30ea\u30f3\u98df\u3079\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f (Reizoko ni atta watashi no purin tabetanaidesuka<\/span>?) (Didn’t you eat<\/span> my pudding that was in the refrigerator?) It is OK to answer “\u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u98df\u3079\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Iie<\/span>, tabetenaidesu) (No<\/span>, I didn’t eat it)” when you didn’t eat it. If you answer only with “\u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>,” be careful, because you may get very angry. A grudge over food won’t be forgiven easily<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far I have explained the correct way to answer negative question in Japanese, but \u5206\u304b\u3089\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u4eba\u306f\u3044\u307e\u305b\u3093\u304b\uff1f (Wakaranakatta hito wa imasenka?) (isn’t there anyone who didn’t understand?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When asked “\u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f(Mondai wa naidesuka?) (Don’t you have any problem?)” in Japanese, which of the following do you think is the correct answer? \uff11\uff0e\u306f\u3044\u3001\u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002(Hai, mondai wa naidesu) (Yes, I don’t have a problem)\uff12\uff0e\u3044\u3044\u3048\u3001\u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002(Iie, mondai wa naidesu) (No, I don’t have a problem) The correct answer is “1”, “\u306f\u3044\u3001\u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u3002(Hai, mondai wa naidesu) (Yes, I don’t have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learn-japanese-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6403"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6480,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403\/revisions\/6480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Answer: No<\/span>, I am not (hungry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25a0In Japanese<\/strong>
Question: \u304a\u8179\u304c\u3059\u3044\u3066\u307e\u3059\u304b<\/span>\uff1f (Onaka ga suitemasuka<\/span>?) (Are<\/span> you hungry? )
Answer: \u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u304a\u8179\u306f\u3059\u3044\u3066\u3044\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059(Iie<\/span>, onaka wa suiteinaidesu) (No<\/span>, I am not (hungry))<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer: \u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u304a\u8179\u306f\u3059\u3044\u3066\u3044\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, onaka wa suiteinaidesu) (Yes<\/span>, I am not (hungry))<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer when you are eating more: \u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u307e\u3060\u98df\u3079\u307e\u3059 (Iie<\/span>, mada tabemasu) (No<\/span>, I will eat more.)
Answer when you are not eating anymore: \u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u3082\u3046\u98df\u3079\u307e\u305b\u3093\uff08\u304a\u8179\u3044\u3063\u3071\u3044\u3067\u3059\uff09(Hai<\/span>, mou tabemasen (Onaka ippaidesu)) (Yes<\/span>, I don’t eat anymore (I am full))<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer when you have a problem: \u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u554f\u984c\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059 (Iie<\/span>, mondai ga arimasu) (Yes<\/span>, I have a problem)
Answer when you have no problem: \u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u554f\u984c\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, mondai wa naidesu) (No<\/span>, I have no problem)<\/p>\n\n\n\nJapanese like negative questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.surapera.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/yesorno.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\uff12\uff0e(To a staff at a restaurant) \u5e2d\u7a7a\u3044\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f (Seki aitenaidesuka?) (Is there no seat available?)
\uff13\uff0e\u30da\u30f3\u3092\u6301\u3063\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f (Pen wo mottenaidesuka?) (Don’t you have a pen?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\uff11\uff0eHave you seen this man?
\uff12\uff0eDo you have a table?
\uff13\uff0eDo you have a pen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think this is the ultimately expression of Japaneseness.
First of all, it is hard to tell whether it is good or bad. Since “\u826f\u304f\u306a\u3044 (not good = bad)” is denied, it is asking other people to agree “It is not bad (= good), right?”
Japanese language is very interesting, isn’t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\nOK to answer \u306f\u3044 or \u3044\u3044\u3048 incorrectly as long as your answer follows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Answer when you want to go: \u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u884c\u304d\u305f\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Iie<\/span>, ikitaidesu) (Yes<\/span>, I want to go)
Answer when you don’t want to go: \u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u884c\u304d\u305f\u304f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, ikitakunaidesu) (No<\/span>, I don’t want to go)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer when you ate it: \u3044\u3044\u3048<\/span>\u3001\u98df\u3079\u307e\u3057\u305f (Iie<\/span>, tabemashita) (Yes<\/span>, I ate it)
Answer when you didn’t eat it: \u306f\u3044<\/span>\u3001\u98df\u3079\u3066\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059 (Hai<\/span>, tabetenaidesu) (No<\/span>, I didn’t eat it)<\/p>\n\n\n\n