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French has an interesting word which somewhat clarifies this situation: "si" (not the conditional "if" in this case). For lack of a better explanation, it's es
by grownseed 12y ago
French has an interesting word which somewhat clarifies this situation: "si" (not the conditional "if" in this case).
For lack of a better explanation, it's essentially a negative "yes", used to negate a negation.
For instance:
A: "Don't you understand?"
B: "Si"
Meaning "No, I don't agree with you, but yes, I do understand".
I find it very simple yet quite powerful.
- AngrySkillzz 12y agoI don't think it actually means ""No, I don't agree with you." I think it's just an unambiguous "Yes, I do" answer to a negated question.
- grownseed 12y agoI was mostly trying to emphasize my perception of the meaning as a native french speaker. Not saying this necessarily makes me right, I just wanted to highlight both the negation of the question itself as well as the confirmation of the underlying statement.