Difficult and Misunderstanding Expressions of Japanese Yes(はい) and No(いいえ) | Learn Japanese Online

Hello everyone, this is Marina. Today, I'm going to talk about Japanese misunderstandings. Let's take a look. In Japanese, yes and no. Let's see the example. Marina-san, do you need this? Yes, sensei. Hai, minasan, ima no hai sensei wa dou iu imi desu ka? What does that hai sensei mean? Did you understand? The teacher asked, Marina-san, kore iranai desu ka? You don't need this, right? In English, you don't need this. You don't need this, right? Don't you need this, right? In English, it sounds like this. Sensei wa, Marina-san, kore iranai desu ka? to kikimashita. Then, the student asked, Hai, sensei. What does this mean? Literally, the meaning is, Yes, teacher. Hai, sensei. Yes, teacher. In this case, Hai means, I don't need this. In Japanese language, If the teacher asked you like, You don't blah blah blah something, The student say, Yes means, I don't. Okay? Marina-san, kore iranai desu ka? Iie, sensei. Ja, ima no baai wa dou iu imi desu ka? Can you guess what does that mean? Iie, sensei. What does this mean? The teacher, again, asked like, You don't need this, right? And the student said, Iie, sensei. Literally, which means, no, teacher. Which means, I need this. No, I need this. Wakarimasu ka? Sensei wa iranai desu ka? The teacher used the negative form. Iranai desu ka? And the student said, no. Which means, Negative is negative. I need it. You said, I don't need it. No, I need it. Like this. Wakarimasu ka? Sensei wa iranai desu ka? Iranai, nai kei wo tsukaimashita. Sensei wa iranai, nai wo iimashita. Gakusei wa iie, iie to iimashita. Iie wa no, I need it no imi desu. Sensei no no wo no desu. Sensei no no wo no to iimasu. Wakarimasu ka? Koko de pointo desu. Pointo. Hanashite iru hito ga, Negative form, Nai kei de yutta toki, Hanashite iru hito ga, Negative form, Nai kei de hanashita toki, Yes, yes means no desu. Yes means no. Kore chotto muzukashii desu yo ne. So, in Japanese, Yes means always agree with what you say. I agree with what you say. No always means I don't agree with what you say. Wakarimasu ka? Sensei ga nai to ittara, Hai wa nai no imi desu. Sensei ga nai to ittara, Iie wa irimasu no imi desu. Wakarimashita ka? Chotto muzukashii desu ne. English and Japanese are completely different. Opposite. Eigo to nihongo wa gyaku desu ne. Eigo to nihongo wa gyaku desu. Be careful. Kiyotsukete kudasai. Okay, let's see another example. Mou hitotsu rei wo mite mimashou. Marina san, saikin isogashiku nai desu ka? Hai, sensei. Hai. Ima no hai sensei wa donna imi desu ka? What does hai sensei mean? Hai sensei. Sensei wa isogashiku nai desu ka? To iimashita. The teacher asked Marina san, You are not busy, right? Marina san wa, Hai, sensei. Hai means, Yes, I am not busy. I am not busy. Wakarimasu ka? Sensei wa not to iimashita kara, Hai wa not no imi desu. Wakarimashita ka? Hai. I agree with what you say. So, the teacher said, Marina san is not busy. And Marina san said, Yes, I am not busy. I am not busy. I agree with you. I am not busy now. Wakarimasu ka? Okay. Marina san, saikin isogashiku nai desu ka? Iie, sensei. What does this mean? What does iie, sensei mean? I think now you can guess. Kono toki no iie, sensei wa, I don't agree with you. So, which means like, No, I am busy. Sensei said, Marina san, you are not busy, right? And Marina san said, No, which means, I don't agree with you. I am busy. Watashi wa isogashii desu. One more example. Mou hitotsu rei wo mite mimashou. Marina san, hitori de dekinai desu ka? Hai. Ja, ima no rei no hai wa dou iu imi desu ka? What does the hai mean? In this case, hai means, Yes, I can't. Hai. The boss asked like, You can't do this by yourself. You can't do this. You cannot do this alone, right? And Marina san answered, Yes, I can't. I agree with you, I can't. Hai, wakarimasu ka? Hitori de dekinai desu ka? Hai, dekinai desu. I agree with you, I can't. I can't do this by myself. Kore wa shigoto no bamen de yoku okoru gokai desu. Hai, iie, hitori de dekimasen ka? Hai, dekimasu no imi ja arimasen. Hai, dekimasen no imi desu. Hai wa dekimasen no imi desu. Sometimes, this kind of misunderstanding happens at a business situation. So, please be careful. Kiyotsukete kudasai. Mina san, Nihongo no hai, iie, wakarimashita ka? Hai wa itsumo, I agree with you. I agree with you. I agree with what you say. Hai wa itsumo, I agree with you. Iie, no. Iie wa itsumo, I don't agree with you. I don't agree with what you say. Iie wa itsumo negative desu ne. Aite ga yutta koto wo negative ni iimasu. Ja, kyou no lesson wa kore de owari desu. Mata aimashou.