Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde! 💖 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 100, numéro 100!

I was planning on doing some kind of celebratory episode but honestly couldn't come up with anything fancy, so instead, today, we are going to do what we are all here to do, and that is to learn French!

But again, thank you so much for listening to the podcast, and thank you for all your support over the years because I know that some of you have been listening since the first episode, which was in March 2020.

Alright. Let's get to it.

This episode is part of the "Common Mistakes in French" series, where I share with you verbs, words, or expressions that often get mixed up! 

And today, we'll look at two little words: "oui" and "si." They both mean "yes." They are not interchangeable. 

And by the way, if you're new to the podcast, make sure you have your There are no exercises for this lesson, but you can head over to the French Made Easy library to download all the other episodes' exercises. All the links are in the episode notes.

Alright, so when to use "si" and "oui." 

"Oui" and si both mean "yes," used to express an affirmative answer. There are actually other meanings possible for "si," but today we only focus on "si" in the context where it means "yes.

The rule is that if you are answering "yes" to a negative question in French, the translation for yes is "si," but if the question is not negative, then the translation for the answer  yes is "OUI."

Examples:

• Q: Vous comprenez ma question ? (Do you understand my question?)

This is a yes or no question, so the question invites two types of answers: yes or no. And this is not a negative question.

So first answer possible:

• A1: Non, je ne comprends pas votre question. (No, I don't understand your question.)

Second answer possible: 

• A2: Oui, je comprend votre question. (Yes, I understand your question.)

Now, what happens if someone asks a negative question instead? 

• Q: Vous ne comprenez pas ma question ? (Don't you understand my question?)

This is also a yes or no question, so the question invites two types of answers: yes or no. And this time, this is a negative question.

So first answer possible:

• A1: Non, je ne comprends pas votre question. (No, I don't understand your question.)

Here, in your answer, nothing changes.

Second answer possible:

• A2: Si, je comprends votre question. (Yes, I understand your question.)

But this time, you have to use SI instead of OUI simply because the question was negative. It means that you actually disagree with the person asking you a question.

Let's see some other examples: 

Affirmative Q:

• Q: Tu aimes les pâtes ? (Do you like pasta?)
• A1: Non, je n'aime pas les pâtes. (No, I don't like pasta.)
• A2: Oui, j'aime les pâtes. (Yes, I like pasta.)

Negative Q:

• Q: Tu n'aimes pas les pâtes ? (Don't you like pasta?)
• A1: Non, je n'aime pas les pâtes. (No, I don't like pasta.)
• A2: Si, j'aime les pâtes. (Yes, I like pasta.)

Affirmative Q: 

• Q: Il parlent français ? (Do they speak French?)
• A1: Non, ils ne parlent pas français. (No, they don't speak French.)
• A2: Oui, ils parlent français. (Yes, they speak French.)

Negative Q:

• Q: Ils ne parlent pas français ? (Don't they speak French?)
• A1: Non, ils ne parlent pas français. (No, they don't speak French.)
• A2: Si, ils parlent français. (Yes, they speak French.)

Just remember that when someone asks a question and you want to reply YES, then YES is "oui" if the question is affirmative, and "si" if the question is negative. I hope you enjoyed it. Now you know the difference between "oui" and "si" and, most importantly that they aren't interchangeable. I'll chat with you in the next episode. 

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt. 😘