A2 · Negation
Saying yes to a negative question
Doch!
German has a third answer word that English lacks entirely, and leaving it out is genuinely ambiguous.
When somebody asks a question containing a negation — Kommst du nicht mit? — English has a problem. "Yes" could mean "yes, I am coming" or "yes, you are right, I am not". Speakers get round it by repeating the verb: "yes I am", "no I am not".
German solves it with a word. Doch contradicts the negation: yes, I am coming. Nein confirms it: no, I am not. Two words, no ambiguity, and no repetition needed.
This is a genuine gap in English rather than a matter of style, which is why it is worth learning early. It also runs the other way: a learner who answers ja to a negative question has said something German speakers cannot interpret, and they will ask again.
Die Form
| positive question, positive answer | Kommst du mit? — Ja. |
| positive question, negative answer | Kommst du mit? — Nein. |
| negative question, contradicted | Kommst du nicht mit? — Doch. |
| negative question, confirmed | Kommst du nicht mit? — Nein. |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
doch answers a negative question in the affirmative.
Hast du keinen Hunger? — Doch!Are you not hungry? — Yes I am!
nein after a negative question agrees with the negation.
Hast du keinen Hunger? — Nein.Are you not hungry? — No, I am not.
ja is not available after a negation and sounds like a mistake.
Nicht dabei? — Doch, hier.Not there? — It is, here.
doch also contradicts a statement, not only a question.
Das stimmt nicht. — Doch, das stimmt.That is not right. — It is, actually.
Genauer hingesehen
The stressed doch and the unstressed one
This is the same word as the modal particle, and the difference is stress. Stressed and standing alone, doch contradicts: Doch! Unstressed and sitting inside a sentence, it softens or invites: Komm doch mit. Both are extremely common and they never collide, because one is a whole answer and the other never is.
A middle case exists: Das ist doch nicht so schwer is unstressed and appeals to something the listener already knows — "surely that is not so hard". It is closer to the particle than to the answer word, and English carries the same job with "surely" or a tag question.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
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French or Scandinavian is already known
the same word exists there: si, jo, jú.
Du kommst nicht? — Doch!You are not coming? — I am!
Several European languages have the third answer word and English is the odd one out.
-
doch opens a sentence with the verb after it
it is the conjunction "yet, however".
Er versprach es, doch er kam nicht.He promised, yet he did not come.
A third use, formal and mostly written.
Woran man es erkennt
- doch
- nein
- ja
- nicht
- kein
Beispielsätze
Du warst nicht da. — Doch, ich war da.You were not there. — I was, actually.
Schmeckt es dir nicht? — Doch, sehr gut.Do you not like it? — I do, very much.
Hast du das nicht gewusst? — Nein.Did you not know that? — No.
Ist noch nichts da? — Doch, alles.Is nothing there yet? — Everything is.
Kannst du nicht schwimmen? — Doch, natürlich.Can you not swim? — Of course I can.
Noch 6 Beispielsätze
Bist du nicht müde? — Doch, sehr.Are you not tired? — I am, very.
Das hat er nie gesagt. — Doch, gestern.He never said that. — He did, yesterday.
Gibt es keinen Kaffee mehr? — Doch, hier.Is there no coffee left? — There is, here.
Willst du wirklich nicht? — Nein, wirklich nicht.Do you really not want to? — No, really not.
Du magst das nicht? — Doch, ich mag es.You do not like it? — I do like it.
War das nicht teuer? — Doch, ziemlich.Was that not expensive? — It was, rather.
Besonderheiten (2)
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Children argue with it
A German playground argument runs <z>Doch! — Nein! — Doch!</z>, which is a complete exchange of contradictions with no content at all. English needs "yes it is — no it is not" for the same thing, and the compactness is a fair measure of how basic the word is.
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It answers a wish as well as a question
After <z>Hoffentlich regnet es nicht</z>, the reply <z>Doch</z> means "unfortunately it is raining". The word contradicts whatever negation was last on the table, whether that was asked or merely hoped.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The wrong answer is not merely unusual; it does not communicate. A German listener hearing ja after a negative question does not know whether time exists or not, and the conversation stops for a clarification. The word to reach for is doch — and if the answer really is negative, it is nein, which agrees with the negation already in the question.
A negative question has doch and nein, never ja.
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