When to use si | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

magic turtleBOT Feb 22, 2024, 9:50 PM

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When to use si

still sandal Feb 22, 2024, 9:53 PM

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"si" means "yes" when it's used in reponse to a question asked negatively

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"tu n'as pas mangé ?"
"si, j'ai mangé"

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(note that this is not common in Quebec French)

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 9:53 PM

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(and it is very common in france)

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 9:55 PM

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So, to use that example, it's to avoid the confusion?
"Didn't you eat?"
"Yes"
"Yes you did eat or yes you didn't?"

still sandal Feb 22, 2024, 9:55 PM

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Well, English is confusing because currently there are only two words: yes or no

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but there used to be a four way split

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yes and no used to be the words used to respond to negatively asked questions
while yea and nay used to be the words for positively asked questions

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 9:56 PM

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I didn't know that.

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Interesting

still sandal Feb 22, 2024, 9:56 PM

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did you not eat?
yes (I did eat)
or
no (I didn't eat)

did you eat?
yea (I did eat)
nay (I didn't eat)

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 9:58 PM

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So for French it would be this if I'm understanding correctly:

Tu n'as pas mangé ?
Si (I did eat)
ou
Non (I didn't eat)

Tu as mangé ?
Oui (I did eat)
ou
Non (I didn't eat)

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Is that correct?

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 10:03 PM

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Yes

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"si" can also be used when you argue with someone:

Cette porte est rouge
Non, elle est verte
Si, elle est rouge

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 10:04 PM

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Huh.

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Would you still be understood if you used oui in place of si?

still sandal Feb 22, 2024, 10:08 PM

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it just wouldn't be very natural there

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if you're disagreeing with the person, it's odd to use oui

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(although, I believe in Quebec French they would use oui)

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 10:09 PM

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mighty tinsel Would you still be understood if you used oui in place of si?

If you use "oui" instead of "si", then you agree with the opposite argument

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 10:10 PM

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That makes sense, I suppose I'll have to work on bringing si into mon vocabulaire (mon? ma?)

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 10:10 PM

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(mon)
It could be useful yeah

mighty tinsel Feb 22, 2024, 10:11 PM

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Merci pour votre aide !

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 10:11 PM

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De rien :p

violet atlas Feb 22, 2024, 10:58 PM

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@mighty tinsel
Here's an other example of "si":
#français message
Here, "si" followed by the adjective "dur" (means difficult here), is a diminution of the adjective, to say that it isn't that much difficult

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Also, this is a diminution because the sentence is negative
If it wasn't negative, it would be an exageration (too much difficult)

#When to use si