6.7. Answering Negative Questions

If you want to answer a Korean question with yes or no, you do it just as you would in English ? so long as the question is an affirmative one. But if the question is negative, you use the Korean word for yes to agree with the negativeness, and the Korean word for no to disagree with the negativeness; the resulting usage is the opposite from the English.

31. 가방 속에 담배는 없어요?
    Don’t you have any cigarettes inside your briefcase?
32. a. 네, 없어요,
    Yes, [I agree with your words:] there aren’t any.
    >b. 아니오, 있어요,
    No, [your impression is mistaken:] there are some cigarettes.

(Occasionally there are exceptions, as when the question is put in the negative form just to be polite.) Here are some further illustrations. Note carefully the difference between the Korean and the English translations:

32. 그 사람이 미국사람 아니에요? 네, 아니에요. 영국사람이에요.
    Isn’t that man an American? No, he’s not. He? English. (i.e. Yes, he? not an American.)
    연필이 없어요? 네, 없어요.
    Haven’t you a pencil? No, I haven’t.
    가방(이) 없어요? 아니오, 있어요.
    Don’t you have a bag? Yes, I do.

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