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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007How do I answer
I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your email?" I answer, "yes". If my boss asks me, "Don't you check your email?" should I answer with a no since I DO check my email? "Did you check your email?" Yes, because I did. "Didn't you check your email?" No, because I did. "Have you checked your email?" Yes, because I did. "Haven't you checked your email?" No, because I did. Is the answer to the inquiry "have you" inverted when it's phrased "have not you" with the contraction "haven't"? There are several examples of questions that are phrased by adding the n't to it, does that have an impact on how I respond? I notice most people ignore the n't when it is added and answer as if the question was worded without the n't. Which is proper? Bart > I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your email?" I > answer, "yes". [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Which is proper? > Bart Stick with yes, bosses hate wise-a.s employees. >> I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your >> email?" [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Stick with yes, bosses hate wise-a.s employees. Hhmmm.... belittlement, name calling, conformity to peers (a.s kissing)...... were you my boss at Wal-Mart? Oh, sorry..... weren't you my boss at Wal-Mart? > >> I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your > >> email?" [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > kissing)...... were you my boss at Wal-Mart? Oh, sorry..... weren't you my > boss at Wal-Mart? Unless you have another paycheck lined up it's best to kiss a.s, it's just a job. > I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your > email?" I answer, "yes". [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Which is proper? > Bart Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? Your boss is in some pretty good company. > > I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your > > email?" I answer, "yes". [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Your boss is in some pretty good company. My god ... Bart hath Shakespeare for a bothth? <snip> > Hath not a Jew eyes? No, a Jew has eyes. > hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? No, a Jew has all of those. > fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same > diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter > and summer, as a Christian is? Not sure what the question is. > If you prick us, do we not bleed? No, you'll bleed. > if you tickle us, do we not laugh? No, you'll probably laugh. > if you poison us, do we not die? No, you'll certainly die. >and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? No, you'll probably revenge, but God would not want you to. > Your boss is in some pretty good company. How did I do? Bart > I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your email?" I > answer, "yes". > If my boss asks me, "Don't you check your email?" should I answer with a no > since I DO check my email? No. You answer "yes". In English, if the question/statement is true, you echo it in your answer. If the question/statement is false, you don't echo it in your answer. question...true=echo/false=don't echo Do you? Yes I do./No, I don't. Don't you? No, I don't./Yes I do. Period. Adrian >> I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your >> email?" [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Adrian With Adrian's logic: Do you? true yes I do Don't you? false but Adrian has me answer yes yes (yµs) adv. 1. It is so; as you say or ask. Used to express affirmation, agreement, positive confirmation, or consent. I see contradiction. Is it the same to ask "do you not check your email" and "do not you check your email"? Either way the word "not" seems to apply to the action "check your email". This reinforces my thoughts of my original post. "Did you check your email?" Yes (because I did) "Didn't you check your email?" No (because I did) "Have you checked your email?" Yes (because I did) "Haven't you checked your email?" No (because I did) The question is a "yes" or "no" question and I wan't to answer with JUST a "yes" or "no" and not have to follow with a description of the action. My quest for the truth continues, Bart > >> I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your > >> email?" [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Do you? true yes I do > Don't you? false but Adrian has me answer yes I don't have you answer yes. English logic and language have you answer yes. That's the truth, and your quest for it is over. Adrian <snip> >> > In English, if the question/statement is true, you echo it in your > answer. >> > If the question/statement is false, you don't echo it in your answer. >> > question...true=echo/false=don't echo >> > Do you? Yes I do./No, I don't. >> > Don't you? No, I don't./Yes I do. Bart's logic: question..................true=echo........false=don't echo Do you?..................Yes, I do..............No, I don't Don't you.................Yes, I don't..........No, I do I'm trying to follow your logic Adrian, but my traditional uses of Yes and No make it hard. > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Do you?..................Yes, I do..............No, I don't > Don't you.................Yes, I don't..........No, I do In what way does "yes" echo "don't"? Agreement with a negative question requires a negative answer. If you don't believe me, there are plenty of professors of English you could ask. (Easier still - just ask ten random people in the street.) > I'm trying to follow your logic Adrian, but my traditional uses of Yes and > No make it hard. Your uses aren't traditional. Wrong =/= traditional. Maybe you meant to write "simplistic"? Adrian >> <snip> >> [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Adrian Adrian's logic: Do you check your email? = Is it true you check your email? Yes, I do check my email. Don't you check your email? = Is it true you do not check your email? Yes, I do check my email. Don't you check your email? = Is it false you check your email? Yes, I do check my email. Bart's logic: Do you check your email? = Is it true you check your email? Yes, I check my email. Don't you check your email? = Is it true you do not check your email? No, I check my email. Don't you check your email? = Is it false you check your email? No, I check my email. See the problem I'm having with you answering yes to all the questions? The truth is I do check my email. The 10 random people I asked were split down the middle between yes and no. I'm avoiding the rewording "Is it not you that checks your email?" Bart > >> <snip> > >> [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > > Bart You're looking at the question "Don't you check your email?" as if it were a math problem, and giving it what seems to be a "technically correct" answer, which doesn't work in the real world. When your boss asks "Don't you check your email?" he's not actually asking "for information", as if he were asking "Don't you eat grubs?" or "Don't you want to bring a rifle to work and shoot everyone?" or "Didn't you eat the last doughnut?". He's actually blowing off some steam; he thinks you should have seen something in your email that it appears (to him, anyway) you have missed. So the tone of *that* question is somewhat pissy. What he's looking for is either a) a confession: "I thought I read it, but I missed *whatever it is that is being referred to*." or b) a strong denial: "Of *course* I read my email! I also read the followup message that refuted the one you're talking about." Adrian's responses to you are "real world". If you think the question is asking "for information", then answer it plainly and in a way that permits no misunderstanding. Answering the negative "Don't you ..." with another negative, "No, I do ..." is going to lead to real-world misunderstanding, even if the answer is technically correct. (And I'm still not even certain that "No, I do ..." would be in any way "correct". Answering with a simple "I do ..." would work.) Logic is expressed with language, but it's not logic in and of itself. Trying to negate the "Don't you ..." with a "No" before answering the action question with an affirmative "I do" will only lead to confusion, so it's not good practice with the language. "Don't you ... ?" "Of course I ..." (positive) "No, I don't ..." (negative) "Haven't you ever ...?" "I have always ..." (positive) "I have never ..." (negative) >> >> <snip> <snip>> > You're looking at the question "Don't you check your email?" as if it > were a math problem, and giving it what seems to be a "technically [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > "I have always ..." (positive) > "I have never ..." (negative) I've been disecting what I thought were two different questions. Do you check your email? Don't you check your email? The results, conclusions and feedback remain arguable. As I surfed this problem I ran across many examples of implied and unspoken concepts in verbal exchanges. I conclude the question has always been: "Do you or do you not check your email?" or "Do you or don't you check your email?" I assumed "do you check your email" was complete and simple, and "don't you check your email" should be as simple. In each, there is the unspoken counterpart that should be considered when formulating the proper response. It is NOT a "yes" or "no" question, it's an either/or question. "Yes" or "No" do not belong in the answer. Therefore: Do you check your email? = Do you (or don't you) check your email? I do. Don't you check your email? = (Do you or) don't you check your email? I do. Now, can we all close our books and go outside to play? Bart >>> >> <snip> >>> >> > <snip>> <<snip>> > I've been disecting what I thought were two different questions. > Do you check your email? [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > Now, can we all close our books and go outside to play? > Bart Should it be written like this? Do you check your email? = Do you [or don't you] check your email? I do. Don't you check your email? = [Do you or] don't you check your email? I do. HTH Bart > Which is proper? My favorite advice from this newsgroup is, "When in doubt, rephrase". Although others here have let you know that "yes" is the correct answer to your boss' question, you might feel more comfortable saying, "I just checked it ten minutes ago" or "I check it every half-hour" or whatever is true for you.  SignatureThe "mypacks.net" address from which this message was sent is legitimate and not spam-trapped. It is, however, disposable. > I check my email regularly. So if my boss asks, "Do you check your email?" I > answer, "yes". [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Which is proper? > Bart The _proper_ reply would be neither 'yes' nor 'no' as the additional 'not', unqualified, renders the question imprecise. The 'proper' question would follow French convention: is it (the case) that you do not check your email? That permits a simple yes or no answer. An imprecise question deserves either the further enquiry, "What are you actually asking me?", or a precise answer, "I do check my email!" Of course, if you want to stay employed ..... Thanks to everyone who replied, including Stan's "shoot from the hip" rejoinder, to which I don't respond well but certainly respect. I've been self-employed for years and used "the boss" scenario as an example. My work is highly technical and when I have a hurried exchange of information with an engineer I find my brain goes through extra steps to respond to a question beginning with a contraction. I notice questions worded this way usually come with a defensive attitude rather than pure curiosity. I was hoping for a better understanding why my thought process glitches when I'm interrogated with contractions this way. "Did you check your email" seems like a simple and pure inquiry. "Didn't you check your email" seems accusatory. Guess it's just me, Bart > Thanks to everyone who replied, including Stan's "shoot from the hip" > rejoinder, to which I don't respond well but certainly respect. I've been [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Guess it's just me, > Bart Unfortunately, there is no sentence in the English language whose construction is accusatory. That is most likely a question for the etiquette group. SignatureYours, Dan S. Temporary sig pending inspiration: - If I did all the things that will "only" take {X} minutes per day, it would take three days to do them all. > "Did you check your email" seems like a simple and pure inquiry. "Didn't you > check your email" seems accusatory. > Guess it's just me, That's the way I see it too. If I did check my email for an important expected message, which wasn't in the inbox, and someone asked, "Didn't you check your email?", I would interpret that as an accusation, and reply, "Yes, of course I did!" > Thanks to everyone who replied, including Stan's "shoot from the hip" > rejoinder, to which I don't respond well but certainly respect. I've been [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > check your email" seems accusatory. > Guess it's just me, No, I think you are correct. When a question is asked negatively, there is something being said in addition to the question. "Didn't you murder your wife?" = You murdered your wife. Right? Bill ---------------------------------------------------------------- Reverse halves of the user name for my e-address > "Did you check your email" seems like a simple and pure inquiry. "Didn't you > check your email" seems accusatory. You're right. Asking negative questions is Bad Form. Adrian |
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