Why "Yes, I Don't" Makes Sense in Korean but Not in English
Korean speakers answer negative questions by agreeing with the question itself, not the fact behind it, so "Don't you like coffee?" gets answered "Yes" even when the honest answer in English would be "No, I don't."
Park English2026-09-073 min read
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A student tells you she doesn't like spicy food. You ask, "You don't like kimchi?" She says "Yes." You wait for the rest of the sentence. It doesn't come. She meant no.
This isn't a one-off mistake. It's a system error, and it comes from a real difference in how the two languages handle negative questions.
Why it happens
In English, yes and no track the fact. If the fact is "I don't like it," the answer is no, no matter how the question was phrased.
In Korean, 네 (yes) and 아니요 (no) track agreement with the question itself. If someone asks "안 좋아해요?" (don't-like?) and you don't like it, you say 네 — "yes, that's correct, I don't like it." Say 아니요 and you're disagreeing with the question, meaning "no, that's wrong, I do like it."
Same logic, opposite word, when the question flips to positive. That's why the error only shows up on negative questions. Ask a Korean student "Do you like coffee?" and they'll answer fine. Ask "Don't you like coffee?" and the wires cross.
| Question | Korean logic answer | What they mean in English |
|---|---|---|
| "You're not coming?" (fact: not coming) | "Yes" | "No, I'm not coming." |
| "Didn't you finish your homework?" (fact: finished) | "No" | "Yes, I finished it." |
| "You don't have a pencil?" (fact: has one) | "No" | "Yes, I have one." |
We've seen this trip up students as old as high school seniors who otherwise write clean essays. It's a habit built over ten-plus years of speaking Korean, and one grammar unit doesn't undo it. Some students, once they've been corrected a few times, overcorrect and start saying "no" reflexively to every negative question whether it's right or not. That's normal. Let it happen for a week or two before you worry about it.
Drills that actually work
Don't explain the theory to lower levels — show the pattern with a physical response first, then attach language.
- True/false with objects. Hold up a red pen. Ask "This isn't blue, is it?" Students answer only with the fact: "No, it's red." Repeat with ten objects, alternating positive and negative phrasing, until the response is automatic.
- Chain drill. One student asks a negative question about the student next to them ("You didn't eat breakfast, did you?"), that student answers based on fact only, then asks the next person. Keep it moving; don't let anyone pause to translate.
- Written flip. Give ten negative questions. Students write the fact first in Korean (mentally), then the English answer, forcing them to separate the two steps rather than answer straight from Korean logic.
- Error hunt. Write five student-typical wrong answers on the board ("Don't you have a sister?" — "Yes, I don't have.") Students find and fix each one.
This is a pattern you'll need to revisit across several classes, not fix in one. Expect it to resurface any time a student is tired, rushing, or answering in a group where they're following someone else's lead rather than thinking it through.