Yes or no?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nikki/]

Someone has asked me "ты не из России случайно?" ("You're not from Russia by any chance?", I think), would I respond with да (yes, that's right, I'm not) or нет (no, I'm not from Russia)?

Comments

[eliebeth.livejournal.com]

"нет"

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nikki/]

That was fast! Thanks!

[olikk.livejournal.com]

"да, из России"
"нет, не из России"

[yorool-gui.livejournal.com]

This is strange type of question which can be shortly answered only as 'no'. If you want to answer 'yes' to this, you have to explain it like "Да, я из России". Short answer "Да" may confuse questioner.

[e-gor.livejournal.com]

just one word is never enough in such cases in Russian.
unlike English, you will alway have to explain what you mean with the full sentence.

[lastpage.livejournal.com]

But in this case a short "нет" will be enough.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nikki/]

But languages normally prefer one over the other. Just saying yes in English would lead to someone interpreting it as "Yes, I'm from Russia" whereas in Japanese someone would interpret it as "Yes, that's right, I'm not from Russia". I was trying to ask which one would apply for Russian.

[e-gor.livejournal.com]

That's not really true.
There are languages normally prefer one over the other (like examples with English and Japanese that you gave).
And there are languages that don't. Russian and Blealrussian (both seem to be my native ones) are the case.

[e-gor.livejournal.com]

I do not think so. I would ask again if somone replies just with "нет" to me in such case.

[lastpage.livejournal.com]

- Ты не из России случайно?
- Нет

Do you really mean that this answer is ambiguous?!
Can you really interpret it as "Yes, I'm from Russia"?

There are many similar questions which cannot be answered just by one "yes" or "no", for example, "Ты не любишь виноград?" ("Don't you like grapes?"), but this very case is pretty obvious if the answer is just "no".

[e-gor.livejournal.com]

really.
just да / нет here sounds exactly as да / нет answer to alternative questions.

/me: puzzled, asking the same question again.

Нуууууу

[papachka.livejournal.com]

Egor, I believe that you are wrong in this one. The answer 'нет' clearly explains the situation - Lastpage is absolutely right here...

[squodge.livejournal.com]

I thought that Russian uses the negative as an 'emphasis tool', much in the same way that it's used in English?

~ squodge ~

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Answering a simple нет in this situation is totally enough. I couldn't imagine one's mind being so twisted that he/she would think that NO [I'm not from Russia] means YES [I'm from Russia]. I'm serious.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Well, my native language is also Russian, and then what? I thereby do confirm that answering a simple нет in this situation perfectly fits. One may enhance the answer, BUT it is NOT MANDATORY.

[e-gor.livejournal.com]

means I'm twisted beyond all recognintion :)

[ex-evengar540.livejournal.com]

Just say,
"Да нет!" :)))))))))))))

[kahala.livejournal.com]

Oh, now I'm confused. All the Russians I've known, including the Russians who taught me Russian, always told me that the correct answer in Russian to a negative question (eg 'ты не из России?') is the reverse of what it is in English - ie, your correct response in this case would be да. Unambiguously. They got quite vehement about it.
Is this not right? Does it make a difference if I say most of these people were from the V. Novgorod region? Or have I been going among mad people...?

[verucanato.livejournal.com]

I feel like I've heard people ask those yes/no questions opposite of what someone would say in Mexican/Californian Spanish:
Russian <

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I feel like I've heard people ask those yes/no questions opposite of what someone would say in Mexican/Californian Spanish:
Russian <<Tы не из России случайно, да?>> with the <<да>> at the end, versus
Spanish "You're from Mexico, no?"

Does anyone have any idea what I'm thinking of?

And I think for the sake of clarity I would respond with a full sentence, to let the questioner know that I did understand their question.

[michaelselehov.livejournal.com]

Well, there shouldn't be any big difference in such situation. Normally, simple "да" can confuse, but 90% it would fit (meaning sure "yes, I'm from Russia"). In this case it's more safe to answer full. The probability of being correctly understood depends a lot on inflexion of question and context of previous dialog. For example:

- You're drinking so much! Are you not from Russia by any chance?

In this case simple "да" fits perfectly. Simple "нет" works all the time.

[ta-kun.livejournal.com]

В английском то же самое.
Меня это доставало когда-то на уроках английского - "blah-blah-blah, do you?" и то же самое, только с отрицанием "blah-blah-blah, don't you?"

Теперь о фразе "Tы не из России случайно?".
Я конечно не филолог, но порассуждаю. Отрицание "не" ставится в подкрепление слова "случайно". Тот, кто спрашивает, не уверен, что ты из России, поэтому как-бы ждет отрицательного ответа.

[guimon.livejournal.com]

Популярный сегодня анекдот:
Александр Лукашенко, президент Белоруссии, вынес на референдум вопрос:
Вы не возражаете, если я буду президентом Белоруссии пожизненно?
Варианты ответа:
Да, не возражаю.
Нет, не возражаю.