Just a real quick word question.

[Why_Worry]

At karate class we have learned ot say quite a few things in japanese and it is the correct way as i have had many of the pronunciations of words confirmed by japanese friends of mine but i just realized we never learned how to say no. I would ask my friends, but one is sick and one is on vacation. Just curious if anyone knows how to say no in japanese.

[Shorin Ryuu]

Iie.

That's "ee" as in "sleep" and "eh" as in "pet".

Ee-eh. Although it almost sounds like "Eeyeh"...the "y" is very soft and formed naturally as your mouth moves from the long "e" sound to the short "e" sound. In other words, don't try to say the "y"...it'll just be there.

[ncole_91]

I think most dojos dont use it because it almost sounds too much like yeah. I remember a Senior asked me a question, and I said Iie and he thought I said yeah. It would get confusing, but you probably shouldnt be saying yeah in the dojo.

[y2_sub]

I never use it because we are supposed to follow the orders

Why_Worry , google is your best friend , run a google search

[Why_Worry]

OK, thanks, lol, yeah i knwo though i always figured we neve rlearned it casue we dotn need to say no, but i was still curious.

[Charlie]

Perhaps another reason that no one in your dojo ever says no in Japanese is because, from what I understand, the words "hai" and "ie" or "ee" don't translate as the direct equivalent as Yes and No in English. In Japanese it depends on the situation as to how you say Yes or No. I've heard that a better translation for "Hai" is, "I hear you," And for "ie(ee)" is, "that isn't correct." As you can see, that isn't necessarily the same as saying yes or no. The way most Japanese in my experience express agreement or disagreement is by using the affirmative or negative conjugations of the verb in play in either formal or informal tense, depending on the situation. Thus, I don't think you could usually just answer "ee" to a question without adding the negative verb also. For example, if the Sensei asks in Japanese, "Kino dojo ni kimashitaka? (You came to the dojo yesterday?)," The appropriate negative reply would be something like, "Ie, kimasen deshita (No, I didn't come- or alternately: That's incorrect, I didn't come.)." If the question is asking for an expression of willingness or ability (Can you come to training this weekend?) then it's an even different conjugation of the verb to express willingness or ability and Hai or Ee aren't appropriate answers.

From what I've seen in these forums, there appears to be some members that are very knowledgeable about Japanese so I hope that they will correct me if I'm wrong.

[weaponless]

There are also times when you would use ie in the affirmative and use hai to answer no. It all depends on the situation, who you are and who you're talking to, etc. There are many "rules".