When to use "No" and "Yes"
I'm really confused as to when to use "Yes" and "No".
For questions like:
"Are you cold?"
"Yes", would mean you are cold whereas "No" would mean you are not cold.

But when my grandma says something like, "Do not feed the chickens this."
I would either say, "Yes.", meaning yes, I understand.
Or I would more likely say "No", meaning No, I won't.
And would usually get corrected. Can anyone explain to me? ;x

Question

When to use "No" and "Yes"
I'm really confused as to when to use "Yes" and "No".
For questions like:
"Are you cold?" 
"Yes", would mean you are cold whereas "No" would mean you are not cold.

But when my grandma says something like, "Do not feed the chickens this."
I would either say, "Yes.", meaning yes, I understand.
Or I would more likely say "No", meaning No, I won't.
And would usually get corrected. Can anyone explain to me? ;x

Answer

Do not feed the chicken this is a statement and not a question. Thus, you would answer OK to confirm your understanding of the statement. Yes does not really apply to this situation. You might answer NO if you disagree. For example, you might reply "No, I will feed the chicken this because the chicken likes it.". However, if someone asked you, "Did you feed the chicken this?". Then, yes would mean you did feed the chicken and no would mean you did not.

Answer

If you're ever in doubt about using yes/no, use a proper statement instead.  I think the main problem is that you're using "yes/no" to reply to a statement.

"Do not feed the chickens this." Use "OK" if you agree, and "why not?" if you don't.

Answer

Languages are not logical. Each language has its own conventions. In English sometimes yes means no and no sometimes means yes.
In your example "Yes" (I am cold ) is simple and correct but
the answer to "Do you not like it?" (and you do not like it) in English is No instead of yes!
This is because it is understood by English speakers that "No" is the short version of the full, expected answer "No I do not like it."
No logic in languages.
I suggest you give the longer answer when in doubt.
Ex "Do not feed the chickens"    answer "No I won't"

Hope this helps

John

Answers · 3

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