Yes/No, Accept/Decline

Question 1

はい

Answer 1

“Hai”; Yes

To respond positively, we say “hai” and repeat the information that we are confirming.

Question 2

そうです

Answer 2

“Sou desu”; That’s right

We say “sou desu” (that is so; that’s right) to respond positively to a yes/no question.

We can also say “sou desu” to confirm something.

Question 3

いいですね / 良いですね。

Answer 3

“ii desu ne”; Good! Excellent job; That’s good, isn’t it? / Sounds good.

To accept a proposal we say “ii desu ne” (sounds good)

Question 4

いいえ

Answer 4

“iie”; Not at all; N

Used when responding to somebody thanking us.

To respond negatively, we say “iie” and provide the correct information.

Question 5

…じゃないです。

Answer 5

“Janai desu”; (a negative marker added at the end of a sentence)

To form a negative sentence, we replace “desu” with “janai desu”.

To respond negatively, we say “iie” and end the sentence with “janai desu”. We then provide the correct information.
Remember that we often omit the subject when it is clear from the context.
いいえ、(A)じゃないです。(B)です。

Question 6

ちょっと…

Answer 6

“Chotto…”; A little (difficult or inconvenient)

To politely decline, we say “chotto”. This literally means “a little”, meaning that the proposal is a little difficult or inconvenient for us.

Usually paired with “sumimasen”(sorry)
すみません、ちょっと…