Negative Questions
Negative questions in English can be confusing, especially since in Japanese, the way of answering negative questions is different to English.
The basic form of the question -
Q) Have you been to Australia?
Yes, I have.
No, I haven’t.
Q) You haven’t been to Australia, have you?
Yes. (I have been to Australia)
No. (I haven’t been to Australia).
Even though the question is negative, the answer is still the same as a positive question. You can answer the question with just “Yes” or “No”, but it’s better to use “Yes, I have” to avoid confusion.
Q) Did you open the present?
Yes, I did.
No, I didn’t.
Q) You didn’t open the present?
Yes, I did. (I opened the present.)
No, I didn’t. (I didn’t open the present).
Q) John isn’t here, is he?
Yes, he is. (He’s here).
No, he isn’t. (He’s not here).
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For example,
Didn’ t you know John wasn’t studying hard ?
Yes.
In this case, generally speaking, the “Yes” means “Yes, I did.”
Am I right ?
Negative questions sometimes confuse me. I guess they might puzzle even native English speakers ???
Sincerely
yuko
Hi Yuko.
That’s right.
Didn’t you know John wasn’t studying hard?
If I answer “Yes” it means I knew he wasn’t studying hard.
A short answer like this can easily confuse even native speakers though.
About a negative question with can:
Why I can’t sing?
or
Why can I not sing?
Which is right???
Hi Mariana.
If your asking a normal question, then it would be -
“Why can’t I sing?”
But that’s not a negative question in the same way as I was talking about.
That would be when you’re asking someone a question.
“Can’t you sing?”
Have fun,
Aidan.