All of these Japanese words can, at times, be translated as "no."
いいえ | iie | No [opposite of yes]. Sometimes "you're welcome" as in "it's nothing" |
ううん | uun | The casual form of いいえ. |
Example: "Do you have a pen?" "No" | ||
だめ | dame | No [it is forbidden]. Also can mean "it's no good" to express failure. |
Example: A mother to a child who tries to do something bad: "No!" | ||
いや | iya | No! Expressing disgust or strong prejudice. |
Example: A guy tries to kiss a girl who doesn't like him: "No!" | ||
違います | chigaimasu | No [it's different]. Often used with いいえ. |
違う | chigau | The casual form of 違います. |
Example: Guessing the card "is it this one?" "No" | ||
そんな事ありません | sonna koto arimasen | No [that is not so]. Expresses firm belief that it is not so. "That" is a verbal concept. |
そんな事ない | sonna koto nai | The casual form of そんな事ありません. |
Example: "Japanese has more words than English" "No [it doesn't]" |
Other examples of words with many translations are "me" and "you." This gives many Japanese people the impression that Japanese has more words than English, but in reality, English probably has more words than any other language (not counting languages where you can put words together to make new words).
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