Don't you like cherry blossoms?
(Responding to negative questions)

    It's now Hanami season in Japan. Literally translated, hanami means "flower viewing." Depending on which part of the country you are in, the Hanami season can be late March (in southern Japan) or mid-May (in Hokkaido). It is the time of year when many Japanese people love to go out and view the country's beautiful cherry blossoms. Many people like to hold parties, eat, drink and sing under the trees.

    Earlier this week, I was talking with one group of students about cherry blossoms. One conversation went something like this:

      A: Have you been to any cherry blossom parties yet?
      B: No, I haven't. Are you planning to go and view cherry blossoms?
      A: No, I don't think so.
      B:  Oh!  Don't you like cherry blossoms?

    QUESTION:
    What should A reply?

    Answering negative questions

    Negative questions: Aren't you...? Hasn't he....? Don't you...? are often used to express surprise. In the dialogue above, Speaker B is surprised that Speaker A has no plans to go cherry blossom viewing. So, she asks: Don't you like cherry blossoms?

    Here are 2 possible ways that Speaker A could respond to this question:
    Yes, I do. I like cherry blossoms, but I don't usually go to hanami parties. There are a lot of cherry trees outside my house - I just look out of the window.
    No, I don't. I'm not interested in flowers.

    Sometimes negative questions cause problems between English speakers and Japanese speakers. For English speakers, negative questions are answered in a similar way to positive questions:

      Do you like cherry blossoms?
      - Yes, I do / No, I don't.

      Don't you like cherry blossoms?
      - Yes, I do. I love cherry blossoms / No, I don't. Not much.

    I've noticed, however, that many Japanese speakers often answer like this:

      Don't you like cherry blossoms?
      - Yes (meaning = Yes, that's right. I don't like cherry blossoms)
      - No (meaning = No, that's wrong I like cherry blossoms).

    This can sometimes be confusing for a native speaker of English.

    Another example

    Negative questions are sometimes used to show surprise, as in the example above. They can also be used to check information. Here's an example of a conversation I had with a student once about her weekend.

    Me:  So what did you do this weekend? Anything interesting?
    Student: Nothing.
    Me: So you didn't do anything?
    Student: Yes.

    How do you think the conversation continued? It went something like this:

    Me: OK. So, what did you do?
    Student: Nothing.
    Me: (Thinking - Oh, she means: Yes, that's right. I didn't do anything).

    <>How could she have responded in a clearer way? 2 possibilities could be:
    - No, I just stayed in bed all day
    - Yes, that's right, I didn't do anything - I just stayed in bed all day.

    TIP:
    Because negative questions can sometimes cause confusion, a good idea is not to answer simply Yes or No, but to add some extra information: No, I.... / Yes, that's right. I ...

    Exercise

    Here are a few negative questions. How could you respond to them:

    1. A: This CD is really good. Do you want to borrow it?
      B:  No, thanks. It's OK.
      A:  Don't you like jazz?
      B:   ___________________________

    2. A:  You never speak to Peter very much. Don't you like him?
      B:   ___________________________

    Please click here to see some suggested answers. And to read about the background of question 2.

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    © Robert E. Jones, 2006