yes
part of speech
adverb / interjection (yes); noun (a yes, yeses)
meaning for a pupil
1) A word used to agree, say something is true, or accept: «Yes, please.» tree →
2) Used to answer when someone calls you: «Yes?» tree →
3) A happy shout: «Yes! We won!» tree →
4) As a noun, an answer that says yes. tree →
5) (casual) «Yeah», «yep», «yup», «ya», «sure», «yeah nah» (Australia, NZ: no) and «deffo» (UK: definitely) are everyday ways to say yes. tree →
6) (casual, sarcastic) «Oh yes, very clever» or «yeah, right» means the opposite: I don't believe you. tree →
7) (rough) «Yes, and?» or «yeah, so what» brushes someone off. tree →
8) (formal) «Affirmative», «indeed», «in the affirmative», «certainly» and «that is correct» are stiff ways to say yes. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life «yes» agrees or accepts; in safety, you can say no to things that feel wrong even when others say yes. In maths, yes/no questions have only two answers. In casual talk «yeah», «yep», «ya»; «yeah nah» (Australia, NZ) means no. In the exam voice: «Respond in the affirmative or the negative», «State whether…». Phrases: yes, please; say yes; yes or no; yes and no; yes-man.
examples
- Yes, I would like some juice. tree →
- «Is it raining?» «Yes, it is.» tree →
- Yes! I scored a goal! tree →
- Answer yes or no. tree →
- She said yes to the party. tree →
- «Tom?» «Yes, Miss?» tree →
- If a stranger asks you to go with them, do not say yes. tree →
- The answer is yes and no. tree →
- «coming to footy?» «yep, be there at 4» (casual) tree →
- «I'll pay you back tomorrow.» «Yeah, right.» (sarcastic) tree →
- «You broke it.» «Yeah, so what?» (rough) tree →
- State whether 15 is divisible by 3, responding in the affirmative or the negative. (formal exam) tree →
- "Yes," she said, nodding her head. tree →
note
Opposite: no. In polite answers say «Yes, please» or «Yes, thank you». You do not have to say yes to anything that feels unsafe. «Yeah» is informal speech. Trap: «yeah, right» (sarcastic) means no; «yeah nah» (Australia, NZ) means no; «nah yeah» means yes. Formal «in the affirmative» = yes. A yes/no question needs yes or no, not a number.
In the corpora
- If a "We'll see" matters to you, ask calmly what would need to change for it to become a yes.
- A long word for a yes-man is "sycophantic".
- The Queen asks Alice if she can play croquet: «Yes!»
- English has one handy «yes» and one «no».
- Mandarin doesn't: you answer by repeating the verb of the question, so the «yes» changes every time.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «yes» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.