39degN Posted May 8, 2004 at 03:28 PM Report Posted May 8, 2004 at 03:28 PM 39, no the colleague was meeting her husband for a candle-light dinner. I was going home to eat instant noodles. oh, what a tragedy! so why dont we go for dinner together? Quote
benotnobody Posted July 6, 2004 at 08:19 AM Report Posted July 6, 2004 at 08:19 AM ok... is their something i'm missing out on here??? i thought this was about "answering negative questions"??? Quote
Ian_Lee Posted February 4, 2005 at 09:20 PM Author Report Posted February 4, 2005 at 09:20 PM And if the question is asked in a double negative manner in Chinese, usually the questioner expects an affirmative answer to the second negative element. For instance: If you mom asks you 你不是不想去學校吗? Probably your mom has already made up her mind to let you have one day off from School. Or if your Cantonese-speaking female co-worker asks you 你唔係唔想返屋企呀呵? Probably she is planning something fun after work with you. Quote
Guest IVYtony Posted February 5, 2005 at 04:38 PM Report Posted February 5, 2005 at 04:38 PM in English, when answering such negative questions, you just need to tell the truth. albeit in Chinese, you need to answer not only yes/no in response to the question, you also need to tell the truth. somewhat confusing when I learnt English. Quote
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