Yeah thank you, I got it. But it is still a mystery to me why it does not make a difference if B (Beth) says " No,..." or "Yeah,...". So it confuses me that answering with "No" and "Yeah" has the same meaning.
But that isn't a negative question. Let's take my examples. A asks a negative question. B1 and B2 are possible answers with the same meaning. B1 begins with "Yeah,.." and B2 begins with "No,...". How can the meaning still be the same? I learned that you agree with a negative question with "No" and you disagree with "Yes/Yeah", but in my example " No" and "Yeah" have the same meaning.
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B1: Yeah they are not the same person.
B2: No they are not the same person.
. . . . In this sort of (theoretically) unscripted dialogue, words come out as people think of ideas. More careful speech, or writing, might lead to a 'No, they are not the same'. . . .
Tarheel answered:But it is still a mystery to me why it does not make a difference if B (Beth) says " No,..." or "Yeah,...". So it confuses me that answering with "No" and "Yeah" has the same meaning.
Well, this is certainly possible. Here:
A: Are we talking about the same person?
B: No, we are not.
K, thank you, I think I understood it now completely. One last question, it may sound stupid, but I just want to be 100% safe:let's go back to your original question:
A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = Yes. I AGREE WITH YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. They are two different people.
B2: No they are not the same person. = No, they are NOT the same person. You're right.
But is there a reason why you wrote to B "They are two different people." and to B2 "They are not the same person"?A: My friend James is not your friend James then?
B: Yeah they are not the same person. = Yes. I AGREE WITH YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. They are two different people.
B2: No they are not the same person. = No, they are NOT the same person. You're right.
Thank you! :up:
But is there a reason why you wrote to B "They are two different people." and to B2 "They are not the same person"?
I would think "They are two different people." = "They are not the same person".
Related to what? This seems a bit out of context?Tarheel is always right.
Oh, Sorry! you mean the comma, don't you?1. Fix your punctuation.
Yeah, I know you answered that.2. Are you asking whether they mean the same thing? We've answered that.
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