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That’s still not complete. You wouldn’t answer 對 to the question “do you like hiking?”. The standard answer would be “like”. Or the versatile 嗯
by yibg 4y ago
That’s still not complete. You wouldn’t answer 對 to the question “do you like hiking?”. The standard answer would be “like”. Or the versatile 嗯
- Apocryphon 4y ago- 你喜歡爬山嗎? - 對,我喜歡 Sounds fine to me. Though I suppose that's more like saying "That's correct/right, I like hiking."
- yibg 4y agoYea exactly. In that phrasing you're putting an affirmation to the original question. Just "對" doesn't work.
- Apocryphon 4y agoI still think you can reply that way in conversation, because "That's correct" is a valid way to answer that question, imo. But sure, I guess 對 doesn't actually mean "yes" in the same way the word "yes" does.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago> Just "對" doesn't work. As with 是的, that isn't true. I knew one Chinese person who was very definite that 它 could not be used to refer to an inanimate object such as a folder or notebook. Instead, the object must be referred to with 这个. But I know other Chinese people who routinely refer to inanimate objects with 它.
- yibg 4y agoThe overall point is there isn't a single "yes". The equivalent of "yes" takes various forms depending on the context. "是的", "对" etc can all work depending on the question.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoBy that argument, English also has no direct equivalent of "yes". Sometimes you say "right". (Compare 对.) Sometimes you say "sure". But don't you think it's strange to claim that there is no English equivalent of an English word?